Sydney 0-0 Rangers
Rangers drew a blank in their 2nd match of the Sydney Festival as things got damp down under. On the face of it a goalless draw with the host’s is a poor result, however horrendous weather conditions made the game very difficult throughout, and indeed farcical in the last 20 minutes. If this was a competitive match it surely would have been in grave danger of abandonment.
Rangers made 2 changes from Sunday’s impressive win over Blackburn, with Neil Alexander replacing McGregor in goal, and Steven Whittaker starting in place of Madjid Bougherra, who apparently has a slight knock, but would be available for the AEK game on Saturday.
Sydney started the game much the better side and had Rangers pinned back for much of the first half hour. For all their possession though, the Aussies never once threatened Neil Alexander. Rangers best effort before the interval came from a great Kyle Lafferty run, but the big Ulsterman opted to pass when he should have pulled the trigger.
Surprisingly there were no changes made by Rangers at the interval. However there was a marked improvement as straight way we got on top and dominated for most of the 45 minutes. Disappointingly though there were very few chances created as we struggled to get bodies into the box. In fact Rangers best chance came from a set-piece when Mo Edu’s header was brilliantly saved by the Sydney keeper. Neil Alexander was called into action 60 seconds later as he superbly clawed away a goal bound chip. That was really as good as it got as regards chances. There was however an increasing niggle to the game and a few late tackles were flying around. This manifested into three 2nd half injuries. John Fleck replaced Kenny Miller after an hour with the striker suffering a recurrence of his shin splints problems. Kyle Lafferty and Lee McCulloch also limped off late on, replaced by Andy Little and Jordan McMillan respectively.
Defensively Rangers looked sound, while Kyle Lafferty at times looked dangerous. However by far Rangers best player IMO was Mo Edu who looks full of confidence.
TEAM: (4-1-4-1): Alexander; Whittaker, Webster, Weir, Broadfoot; McCulloch (McMillan); Naismith, Davis, Edu, Lafferty (Little); Miller (Fleck).
Subs not used: McGregor, Perry, Wylde, Ness.
Booked: Miller
Report by powerranger