Rangers 3 (De Boer 2 {42,58}, McCann 97) Viktoria Zizkov 1 (Licka 100)
Attendance 47,646
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It was a Herculean effort by the Light Blues against a side few had heard of when the draw was made, but the plain and unpalatable truth is that this defeat is a disaster both in footballing and financial terms as Rangers suffer their earliest exit from Europe for some five years.
Rangers went into this game in the certain knowledge that no Ibrox side had ever recovered a two-goal first-leg deficit, but there was a near-capacity crowd present to roar them on in the attempt, with 47,646 spectators present inside the stadium and thousands more locked outside.
There was a pre-match surprise in Alex McLeish’s team selection with Bert Konterman fielded to the exclusion of Kevin Muscat. Arthur Numan returned after injury, with Maurice Ross dropping down to the substitute’s bench.
The Czechs are nothing if not physical – and Jan Buryan was extremely fortunate to avoid a card in eleven minutes when he scythed down Peter Lovenkrands.
Rangers were in need of an early goal – and it should have arrived in 22 minutes when Shota Arveladze’s cutback was met by Ronald De Boer who skied the ball over the bar.
Ten minutes later a superb Mikel Arteta pass released Lovenkrands wide on the left, only for the Danish International’s cross to fall just behind the inrushing Shota Arveladze.
Rangers almost paid the penalty for these misses in 38 minutes when Michal Smarda – so dangerous with the dead ball in Prague – tested Stefan Klos with a 22-yard free-kick that the goalkeeper touched behind.
The Ibrox men needed a breakthrough with the interval fast approaching, and Bert Konterman almost did the business in 40 minutes when his twenty-yard drive was just inches wide.
Two minutes later however the opening goal arrived when Barry Ferguson found Fernando Ricksen, then cleverly dummied the Dutchman’s wall pass, releasing De Boer who slotted the ball home.
Viktoria were fortunate to end the half with a full compliment when Buryan – by this time on a yellow card – blatantly kicked Lovenkrands only for the Greek Referee – in charge of his first UEFA fixture – to totally ignore the incident.
The referee was again the centre of attention in 53 minutes when that man Buryan chopped down Lovenkrands in the penalty area, only for the official to wave play on.
Rangers had all the pressure – in 55 minutes an Arveladze header from a Lovenkrands cross was too high, but two minutes later the aggregate scores were level when Ricksen’s imaginative pass found Arveladze whose low drive was parried by Kucera, the ball being turned home by De Boer for Goal Number Two.
The home side went for the kill, and an Arveladze header from an Arteta corner in 64 minutes was inches wide. Two minutes later the Greek Referee incredibly booked Lovenkrands for diving when the Dane was blatantly fouled.
Alex McLeish made his first change of the night when Kevin Muscat replaced Bert Konterman. It was a strange decision for although Konterman had not had the best of times; Muscat would frankly prove to be a liability.
Zizkov were dangerous on the break, and almost secured a crucial away goal in 76 minutes when substitute Kruty’s low drive was held by Stefan Klos.
Two minutes later there were loud appeals for a penalty when Smarda handled Arteta’s chip, but once again the Greek turned a blind eye.
Rangers piled on the pressure in the closing stages in an effort to win the tie. A De Boer header from an Arteta cross struck the crossbar in 84 minutes, then Lovenkrands sliced his shot on the turn from yet another Arteta opening wide of the target.
Extra time it was – with Neil McCann replacing Peter Lovenkrands in the opening minute.
Arthur Numan almost burrowed his way through the Czech defence in 95 minutes only to be crowded out, but within a further two minutes Rangers were ahead for the first time in the tie when a superb Arteta pass released De Boer on the right, his low cross being rifled home from point-blank range by McCann.
Rangers were well on top at this stage, and Manager Alex McLeish, clearly believing the tie won, decided to replace the outstanding De Boer with Claudio Caniggia.
The Dutchman departed to a standing ovation, yet within sixty seconds there was another twist in this engrossing game when slackness in the Ibrox defence allowed an unmarked Licka to sweep the ball home to put the visitors ahead on the away goal.
With time now ebbing away, Rangers were in desperate need of a fourth goal. Neil McCann was clean through on an Arveladze pass in 109 minutes only for Kucera to deflect his goalbound effort over the crossbar.
Two minutes later an almighty scramble inside the Zizkov penalty area saw Caniggia’s first effort blocked by Kucera, then his second attempt, a delicate chip, headed out from under the crossbar by Buryan.
The Viktoria goal was now under siege, and with just six minutes of extra-time remaining a McCann cross was met on the volley by Lorenzo Amoruso some fifteen yards out only for Kucera to miraculously produce an instinctive save of the highest quality to divert the ball wide.
With the sands of time rapidly running out, there was to be one more incredible incident that only served to underline the gross incompetence of Athanassios the Greek. With Mikel Arteta poised to take a corner, Jan Buryan felled Craig Moore inside the box. Following consultation with his assistant, the referee produced a red card to order the Czech defender off, then pointed to the penalty spot. It appeared to be a golden opportunity for Rangers to snatch a late winner, but Briakos, following further discussion with his linesman, realised that the corner-kick had not actually been taken, the ball was therefore out of play, and a penalty could not be awarded.
Rangers kept up the pressure in the dying seconds, and there was the unique sight of Stefan Klos meeting an Arteta corner only for his header to be cleared off the line.
The final whistle sounded shortly afterwards to signal Rangers’ exit at the hands of a team too many had grossly underestimated. Any side that comes within ninety minutes of the Czech League Championship are clearly not to be written off, given the outstanding form of the likes of Sparta Prague, Slavia Prague,
Slovan Liberic and Sigma Oulomic in recent years. Manager Alex McLeish afterwards slaughtered the Greek
Referee:
"This was his first European tie, and it certainly showed." In the final analysis however the blunt truth is that the tie was lost in Prague.
RANGERS Klos; Ricksen, Moore, Amoruso, Numan; De Boer (Caniggia 99), Ferguson, Konterman (Muscat 66), Arteta; Arveladze, Lovenkrands (McCann 91)
UNUSED SUBS McGregor, Dodds, Ross, Latapy
VIKTORIA ZIZKOV Kucera; Buryan, Mlejnsky, Klimpl, Smarda; Janousek (Kruty 66), Sabou, Scasny, Pikl; Chihuri (Licka 97), Straceny (Dirmbach 115)
UNUSED SUBS Chvatal, Vacez, Novotny, Mikulik
REFEREE Athanassios Briakos (Greece)