Philippe Clement got his history moment as Rangers mashed Malmo.
The Ibrox team finally savoured a success against Swedes to get their Europa League campaign off to a flying start. At the club’s fifth attempt, Malmo were toppled with goals from Nedim Bajrami, his first for the club, and sub Ross McCausland. It was a fully deserved victory for the Light Blues and the scoreline could have been more convincing.
Clement’s team had plenty of chances to add to Bajrami’s opening-minute strike before McCausland came off the bench to clinch it. The manager had a host of top performers as his team started superbly and completed their mission. Rangers wanted a fast start. An opener after 56 seconds was a dream for Clement.
Bajrami scored the fastest-ever goal at a Euros in 23 seconds and didn’t need much longer to strike in Scandinavia. Cyriel Dessers pounced on a short backpass and rounded keeper Johan Dahlin. He hit a post, but the rebound fell kindly for Bajrami to bury.
In 11 home Allsvenskan matches this term prior to the tie, the hosts had lost just a miserly four, yet they were ropey defensively. Clement’s impressive team could have finished it before half-time. The best openings came when Vaclav Cerny missed a one-on-one and Dessers and Bajrami couldn’t convert a two-on-one.
Without a goal in six of their last dozen Euro ties, Malmo were up against it and couldn’t muster a fightback. They didn’t get a shot on target as Rangers hunted more, Dessers missed a big chance before McCausland seized possession at the edge of the box and rifled the second beyond Dahlin and seal the deal.
Left-back call in focus
Neraysho Kasanwirjo was handed a massive opportunity and he took it. With Jefte suspended due to his red card against Dynamo Kyiv and Ridvan Yilmaz injured, many observers felt Dujon Sterling would slot into the left-back role.
However, Kasanwirijo got the nod after making his debut as a late substitute in last weekend’s 3-0 Premier Sports Cup win over Dundee. The manager intimated pre-match it was down to fitness, but with Sterling named amongst the subs, it was a big show of faith in the 22-year-old, on loan from Feyenoord,
Kasanwirjo was athletic down the flank, took up good positions to receive it and was tidy on the ball.mHad a brilliant chance to cap his performance with Rangers’ third only to shoot over, but defended superbly at the back post to ensure the clean sheet near the finish. Fully justified his selection.
Polished Diomande
Mohamed Diomonde was back in an engine-room which needed to deliver against Malmo’s competitive counterparts and gain Rangers the upper hand in a key area. With Connor Barron alongside him and Tom Lawrence advanced, he had to try and impose himself shuttling up-and-down between both boxes. He did so.
Diomomde was booked early for a tug on Oliver Berg, but had good mobility to make breaking runs and also drop in when his full-backs moved on. Along with Barron, he scavenged and hunted possession around Malmo’s key man Anders Christiansen. In addition, he took the ball from the defenders and surged to join the attacks.
After the break, Oscar Berg found the odd bit of freedom, but Diomonde and Barron stayed composed and switched-on. With Lawrence also positive, the trio were all impressive.
Propper leader
The Dutchman took two clean-sheets against the Dundee clubs alongside partner John Souttar into Sweden and onto the Euro platform. Former captain of Twente Enschede, 31-year-old Propper was signed to be a leader and displayed such traits in the opening period as the dangerous Isaac Kiese Thelin was restricted to just five touches.
Bailed keeper Jack Butland out after a loose pass out from the back and orchestrated the backline to hold their high line to ensure Thelin’s netted finish was offside. Even got forward to head over from a Tavernier set-piece and knock a lovely first-time pass to create a Bajrami shooting chance.
With Souttar also strong winning balls, Rangers protected their keeper. Malmo didn’t offer much, but the centre-backs did their jobs without fuss.
Dream Euro debut for Bajrami
Nedim Bajrami showed in the summer he has the tools to deliver at a high level and Clement got a strong showing from late-window signing. The Albanian international backed up play and scored in the blink of an eye. He bagged the fastest-ever goal at a Euros in 23 seconds and didn’t need much longer to strike in Scandinavia.
It was his team-mate on the opposite side of the pitch Vaclav Cerny who showed the pressing hunger which forced fall-guy Gabriel Busanello into his underhit mishap. Cerny instigated another move which resulted in a saved Bajrami shot. When his colleague repaid the assist, the Czech missed a glorious one-on-chance.
Bajrami had another fierce shot saved as the pair caused big problems. With Malmo trying to respond after the interval, the pair did the dirty work tracking back to assist full-backs.
Cerny went off for Ross McCausland, but Bajrami wasn’t finished. He created a headed chance for the youngster before the kid before he scored the second. Wide boys did the business.
Dessers goes to the well
The hitman bagged the last-minute equaliser in Rangers’ previous away Euro game against Dinamo Kyiv and it was a minute from the start when he got involved this time. Dessers did superbly to pounce on a loose backpass and go around the keeper. He should have scored or squared to Bajrami. He did neither, but, crucially, the rebound after he hit a post fell for his Albanian colleague.
With Hamza Igamane unavailable due to passport issues, the onus was on Dessers to do the full 90 minutes and he didn’t stop.
A sublime touch helped create a wonderful chance which Cerny missed, yet he was subsequently too quick to feed Bajrami when the pair had a two-on-one. Pontus Jansson, the ex-Leeds and Brentford stopper who played against Rangers 13 years ago, was a physical opponent and Dessers relished the fight. More about scraps after the interval, but should have been handed a chance when Tom Lawrence couldn’t pick his run after stealing possession. When he finally got the second-half sighter, he scooped it over. But was still surging into the box in the dying moments in a hefty shift.