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Rangers were eliminated from the Uefa Conference League play-offs after a 4-3 penalty shoot-out defeat to Jablonec. The Scottish side, who led 1-0 from the first leg, failed to capitalize on their advantage, allowing Jablonec to equalize and force the match to a decisive penalty finale.
RANGERS WERE LEFT reeling as they crashed out of the Uefa Conference League play-offs with a 4-3 penalty shoot-out defeat to Jablonec at Stadion Strelnice.
Leading 1-0 from the first leg at Ibrox last week, Derek McInnes's side turned in a turgid performance in the Czech Republic which lacked creativity and invention, and it proved costly. A half-time reboot, with skipper Lawrence Shankland, Connor Barron and Findlay Curtis coming on and a different shape, did little to improve their play and Jablonec midfielder Vakhtang Tchanturishvili deservedly levelled the tie in the 73rd minute with a drive which took the game to 1-1 on aggregate and extra-time.
There were no more goals, which brought penalties, and although Gers keeper Ivor Pandur saved from Filip Zorvan, Rangers attacker Findlay Curtis fired his spot-kick over the bar and James Penrice was thwarted by Jablonec keeper Jan Hanus, leaving Jan Chramosta to fire in the decisive kick. The defeat is a huge blow to the Govan side, who were knocked out of the Europa League qualifiers by Polish side Jagiellonia Bialystok and whose massive rebuild under McInnes is struggling to get off the ground.
Advertisement With European football over for the season while still in August, the Ibrox side have to pick themselves up for the trip to Aberdeen in the William Hill Premiership on Sunday as they are already five points behind Celtic, St Mirren and Dundee. It was a struggle for Rangers from the early stages.
The home side fashioned a great chance in the 13th minute when striker Lamin Jawo raced on to a Jan Suchan pass with the Gers defence flat-footed, but failed to hit the target with only keeper Ivor Pandur to beat. At the other end, in a rare Gers threat, midfielder Tochi Chukwuani met a James Penrice cross, but his header from 12 yards was grabbed out of the air by Jablonec keeper Jan Hanus.
In the 28th minute, Jawo's header drew a save from Pandur and by the end of the first half Rangers were sitting deep, offering little going forward. Shankland, Curtis and Barron took over from Dan Neil, Daisuke Yokota and Djeidi Gassama as McInnes looked for a marked upturn in form.
However, Jablonec remained on the front foot, and Pandur clutched a 20-yard volley from Suchan at the second attempt. In the 52nd minute, Jablonec playmaker Richard Sedlacek raced clear of the Gers defence on the break but he too missed the target with his shot, before the offside flag went up. Suchan fired over the bar before Thelo Aasgaard took over from Vanja Dragojevic in another Gers change.
However, the game changed when Tchanturishvili cut inside Penrice and, from an angle, fired the ball low past Pandur, stunning the visitors and their 900-strong travelling support. Kosta Nedeljkovic replaced Ryan Naderi for Rangers, a final change that made no difference, and the 90 minutes passed with no more goals. A low-quality performance by Rangers continued into the extra half-hour, where striker Bojan Miovski replaced right-back Dujon Sterling.
Jablonec substitute Chramosta came close with an angled drive in the 106th minute, but almost inevitably the game went to penalties. And although Shankland, Miovski and Aaasgaard all netted, it was not enough to prevent a damaging defeat in terms of finance and morale
Rangers Jablonec Conference League Penalty Shoot-Out Derek Mcinnes
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