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Philippe Clement sees Rangers rev up in shadow of Monaco GP track but only one thing can swerve managerial car crash
Half an hour’s drive along the French Riviera coastline from Nice you come to the winding, twisting streets that form the circuit for the Monaco Grand Prix.
It’s on those same leafy avenues Philippe Clement took the first wrong turn of his managerial career as an 18-month stint in Monte Carlo ended with a sudden crash. A year-and-a-half on and he was back on the Cote d’Azur knowing it is now his Rangers reign in danger of stalling.
If the Belgian is to remain in the driver’s seat at Ibrox, he simply has to find a way of getting his team to motor domestically at the same speed they zoom along at in Europe. Thursday was another of those remarkable occasions when a team who have consistently found themselves incapable of overtaking the SPFL’s back markers had no problem hitting top gear abroad. Dismal domestically but this was as clinical a performance as you are likely to see on the continent. A record-equalling seventh game unbeaten away in UEFA competition now has Rangers in pole position for a place in the knockout rounds after reaching the all-important 10-point mark.
READ MORE: Dismayed Dujon Sterling slams 'desperate' Rangers referee over TRIPLE penalty check
Young striker Hamza Igamane announced himself to the Ibrox faithful with a double on his first Euro start after goals from Vaclav Cerny and Mohamed Diomande stunned the French big spenders.
What it means for Clement remains to be seen. One thing for sure is he cannot allow his team to revert to bad habits when they take the road up to Perth for Sunday’s Premiership showdown with St Johnstone.
It’s not much of a surprise these days to see James Tavernier bombed out of Clement’s XI. He turned 33 last month and it has become harder to ignore the feeling his age has finally caught up with him this term. And so, having missed out entirely against Dundee United on Saturday, he was again told to take a seat with the subs as Dujon Sterling kept his place at right-back. Some may have raised eyebrows, however, at seeing Robin Propper start ahead of Leon Balogun in the centre of defence.
What would have come as more of a shock was the sight of Igamane running out to lead Gers’ attack. Given Cyriel Dessers was hooked just 45 minutes into that damaging draw with United, he could hardly complain about being dropped. But the 22-year-old Moroccan replacing him hadn’t exactly lit Ibrox up since his £1.7million move from FAR Rabat, with just one goal in his first 11 games.
He would soon justify his big chance. He would have got off to a dream start 10 minutes in had Nedim Bajrami not butchered a three-on-one breakaway by undercooking his pass to the frontman. Rangers had already survived their own scare by then as Franck Haise’s side screamed for three penalty shouts in one mad penalty box scramble.
Jack Butland kept out a Tom Louchet strike but ref Ricardo de Burgos was quickly pointing to the spot after Youssoufa Moukoko’s follow-up was blocked by John Souttar’s hand. When the thorough Spanish VAR team sent the whistler to the screen, it was clear the centre-back had tucked his arm close to his body. And when Sterling and Connor Barron were also cleared of infringements after a forensic trawl of the footage, Clement’s side could breathe a sigh of relief.
Nice have been bankrolled by new Manchester United chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe to the tune of £250m over the last five years. That huge outlay hadn’t done much to boost their Europa League prospects, having taken just two points from their first four games, and Rangers certainly weren’t put off by their huge spending power.
In fact, it was Nice who were made to pay another hefty price for some shocking defending 10 minutes before the break. Hicham Boudaoui should have cleared Sterling’s cross but when he allowed Igamane to control the ball in the box, the Ligue 1 side were in trouble as Cerny’s strike took a nick off Pablo Rosario on its way past Marcin Bulka.
The Polish keeper was beaten again three minutes later when Rosario misread Sterling’s clipped ball over the top, turning in astonishment to see Diomande appear from nowhere to prod past his stranded No.1. Neither Rangers’ beleaguered boss nor their long-suffering fans could believe what they were seeing.
But before the break there was time for one more eruption of joy as Mo Abdelmonem’s pass back was pounced on by Igamane, who coolly sidestepped Bulka to fire in No.3. Rangers braced themselves for a Nice onslaught. Gaetan Laborde and Tanguy Ndombele went close before Boudaoui was foiled by Butland.
But once again Nice’s gifts were gobbled up by Rangers who made it four in 54 minutes. For the third time it was Rosario who sold the jerseys as he fired straight at Igamane, who was ice cool again as he rolled the ball past Bulka.
With the game well and truly won, Clement took the chance to rest up his men ahead of their trip to McDiarmid Park. Ridvan Yilmaz was among a raft of subs and came close to scoring.
Dessers could have responded to Igamane’s challenge but fired wide from three yards out. And Rangers had to settle for a three-goal margin of victory after Badredine Bouanani’s stunning set-piece strike with seven minutes left.
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