currently lying fourth in Serie A, just three points
adrift of league leaders Inter Milan.
AS LIVORNO CALCIO 2 (Lucarelli 2 [33 Pen, 88)
RANGERS 3 (Adam 26, Boyd 29 Pen, Novo 34)
Attendance 13,200
Under-pressure Ibrox Manager Paul Le Guen made four
changes from Saturday with Alan Hutton, Karl Svensson,
Nacho Novo and Kris Boyd replacing Phil Bardsley, Sasa
Papac, Dado Prso and Filip Sebo.
It was a night of torrrential rain in Tuscany, much
more like Scotland than sunny Italy.
If any one Rangers player has been under pressure in
recent days then it has surely been Lionel Letizi -
and he almost presented Livorno with an opening as
early as the second minute when, perhaps due to the
conditions, he overcarried the ball, enabling local
hero Christiano Lucarelli to fire in a wide-angled
free-kick that was blocked then scrambled clear.
Rangers were not here to defend however - indeed they
might have opened the scoring eight minutes later when
Novo, making only his second start of the season,
scooped the ball over from a Barry Ferguson
head-flick.
A strong penalty claim by the visitors was denied by
Spanish Referee Rodriguez in 23 minutes when Rezei
barged Thomas Buffel in the back from Steven Smith's
pass.
Three minutes later Rangers opened the scoring when
Charlie Adam's 25-yard left-foot volley found the net
after Buffel's throw-in had found Smith whose cross
was nodded back into the youngster's path by Boyd.
It was the youngster's first-ever goal for the club,
and unbelievably three minutes later it was 2-0 when
Boyd netted from the penalty spot after Novo had
cleverly turned Fabio Galante before being upended.
That goal too was a first - for Boyd in Europe - but
within four more minutes the Spanish Referee had
evened up the penalty count when he awarded the home
side a spot-kick after Lucarelli had went down
theatrically following a Passoni corner.
Lucarelli netted, but any hopes Livorno had that their
quick response might provide a lifeline were torpedoed
instantly when Novo netted with a half-volley from
Boyd's downward header off a Buffel cross. It was the
Spaniard's first goal in more than a year.
A 3-1 lead was beyond the wildest dreams of the 1,500
travelling 'Gers fans - and it might have been four in
37 minutes when Boyd's header from Adam's cross was
too high.
The incessant downpour had not let up for a minute -
not that the Light Blue legions cared - but Livorno
were not beaten yet, underlined on the hour when Tomas
Danilevicus' header from Luca Vigiani's cross produced
a fine save from Letizi.
Three minutes later Buffel was denied by Marco Amelia
when his volley from a Boyd head-flick was blocked
by the home goalkeeper.
Letizi again answered his critics in 72 minutes when
he turned wide Jose Luis Vidigal's twenty-yard
left-foot drive.
Rangers were content to soak up the pressure - yet hit
on the break two minutes later when Ferguson broke
through the midddle before unleashing a 25-yard drive
that Amelia blocked with his legs.
Lucarelli came close in 79 minutes with a twenty-yard
drive that flashed just over, but nine minutes later
he reduced the deficit from close range after Letizi
had saved well from substitute Ibrahim Bakayoko.
A nervy closing few minutes for Rangers were almost
relieved when substitute Sebo's angled cross struck
the crossbar from a Ferguson pass, but Letizi ensured
the win when he held Bakayoko's drive in the final
seconds.
Afterwards Le Guen summarised:
"I am happy for the players. The first-half was
brilliant. Tonight was a good reward for hard work. We
needed a win for our confidence. There is a long way
to go. We are a young team. We have been ill, but not
dead."
Livrono Coach Daniele Arigoni reflected:
"We lost the game in the first thirty minutes.
Defensive lapses cost us dear. I was surprised by
Nacho Novo - I have never seen him before. Kris Boyd
and Thomas Buffel were other excellent players."
AS LIVORNO CALCIO Amelia; Galante, Kuffour, Rezei
(Morone 56); Cesar Prates (Balleri 45), Vidigal,
Vigiani (Bakayoko 78), Passoni, Pasquale; Danilevicus,
Lucarelli
UNUSED SUBS Manitta, Filippini, Pfertzel, Grandoni
RANGERS Letizi; Hutton, Svensson, Rodriguez, Smith;
Novo (Prso 85), Ferguson, Hemdani, Adam; Buffel (Rae
87), Boyd (Sebo 81)
UNUSED SUBS McGregor, Ponroy, Stanger, N'Diaye