Kris Boyd was laughing nervously after Lyon’s second goal against Rangers – but he was still smiling at full-time as he turned their 4-1 defeat into a dig at Celtic.
Rangers were resoundingly beaten against the Ligue 1 side at Ibrox, with Malick Fofana and Alexandre Lacazette each striking twice on their way to a comfortable win. Tom Lawrence had cancelled out Lacazette’s first but there was simply too much firepower on show from the visitors whose forward line of Fofana, Lacazette and Rayan Cherki was too hot to handle.
The pundits had plenty to say on a sobering night with Boyd in particular one of the centres of attention in the Sky Sports studio. He can never resist a Celtic wind up and was quick to compare it to their 7-1 thumping in Dortmund. Elsewhere Ally McCoist spotted a clue the ‘standards’ are in decline at Ibrox. Here’s what 3 pundits had to say.
Kris Boyd
After the second Lyon goal, the Sky studio cut to Boyd and he said with a laugh: “You don’t need to come back to me if you don’t want to!” before describing the second Lyon goal.
At full-time, he went on, giving credit to Hearts before a dig at the Hoops across the city. He added: “Cerny had an opportunity before Lyon scored right at the start to put Rangers up but missed it from inside the six yard box, smashed it over the bar. From that moment on it was all Lyon. The front three absolutely ripped Rangers apart this evening.
“To be honest, it was four, but it could have been a lot more. Lyon were outstanding. But this week? You have to give Hearts credit, the team from the capital the only Scottish team to go and get a victory in Europe. Fantastic performance. But it’s hard to believe Rangers have lost 4-1 tonight, and it’s not even the worst result for a Scottish club in Europe this week.” That lost comment was met with a chorus of groans and boos by the rest of the studio who knew it was coming.
Ally McCoist
Speaking during the second half in TNT’s coverage, McCoist reckons the standards have dropped dramatically from the days of Gio van Bronckhorst when Rangers could mix it with some of Europe’s best. He said on commentary: “There’s been a decline in the standards, definitely. Three or four years ago, they could compete with these teams. So you have to ask what’s gone wrong?”
And at full-time, he said: “Rangers have been beaten comfortably by brilliance. And those two (Lacazette and Fofana) were part of a trio that, I’ve got to be honest, I really enjoyed watching. Fofana on the left, Lacazette through the middle, Cherki on the right. They had an absolutely beautiful balance. Rangers could not handle it, simple as.”
Derek McInnes
And Kilmarnock boss McInnes reckons it was a strong start for Rangers, before it all went off the rails. He said: “Rangers got off to a really good start. Cerny missed a stick-on at the back post he’ll be disappointed with. But once the front three had an influence, Rangers found it difficult. The fourth goal knocks any kind of encouragement out of the Rangers lads. Then it’s just about seeing out the minutes. Clement made a few changes, maybe with Sunday in mind, because he knew it was beyond them. The quality was the real difference in the forward areas.”