with a 2-0 win over Chelsea at Ibrox thanks to late
goals from substitutes Nacho Novo and Filip Sebo.
The victory over the Premiership giants puts the Light
Blues in the right frame of mind for Tuesday night
when the competitive action gets under way with a
Champions League qualifier against FK Zeta of
Montenegro.
Manager Walter Smith fielded an unchanged side from
Tuesday.
John Smeaton, the hero of the terrorist attack on
Glasgow Airport on 30 June, received a rapturous
welcome from both sets of fans prior to kick-off. It
was perhaps as well he as at Ibrox and not at Celtic
Park where he would undoubtedly have been booed, half
of the audience comprising terrorist supporters.
The game was fast and competitive from the opening
minutes - and Kris Boyd might have opened the scoring
as early as the third minutes when he was put through
by David Weir's long pass, only to be foiled by
goalkeeper Petr Cech.
It was a thoroughly entertaining game with both sides
playing open attacking football, although clear-cut
chances were thin on the ground.
A late tackle by Florent Malouda on Barry Ferguson in
33 minutes earned him a yellow card that underlined
the competitive nature of the afternoon.
Chelsea were certainly not here to go through the
motions - and might have opened the scoring three
minutes later when Didier Drogba's header from a
Malouda cross was just wide.
Malouda again threatened in 42 minutes when his
25-yard drive flashed wide of the target.
There were eleven substitutions at the interval - six
for Rangers, five for Chelsea, but the pace continued
unabated.
John Terry must have been thankful that this was not a
competitive game in 64 minutes when he hauled down
Sebo as the Slovakian moved clear on a Novo flick -
the England Captain received a yellow card but as Sebo
was clean through on goal it should have been a red
card that was issued by Referee Stuart Dougal.
Two minutes later Sebo, through on a Novo pass, sliced
the ball wide when it seemed easier to score.
Rangers were almost made to pay for that miss -
Chelsea immediately creating a clear opening when
Ashley Cole's cutback found Claudio Pizarro whose shot
was blocked on the line, the ball breaking to John Obi
Mikel on the edge of the box, his drive being held by
substitute goalkeeper Roy Carroll.
As the game drew to a close, both sides went all out
for the winner - Frank Lampard making space for
himself on the edge of the box only to see his effort
held by Carroll in 84 minutes.
Sixty seconds later the Stadium erupted when Novo's
twenty-yard drive from a Chris Burke pass flashed into
the net.
No sooner had the celebrations died down than Sebo, on
the edge of the box wide left, found the net with the
aid of a deflection.
Afterwards Walter Smith was cautious in his assessment
of the game:
"This was a good game for us to get. We played very
well in the second-half. It's always difficult to get
a competitive edge in pre-season games."
Chelsea Assistant Manager Steve Clarke was honest
enough to admit:
"We don't like to lose. Rangers played well - they
look sharp."
RANGERS McGregor (Carroll 45); Hutton (Murray 45),
Weir (Webster 45), Cuellar, Papac (Broadfoot 45);
McCulloch (Sebo 61), Ferguson, Hemdani, Adam (Burke
81); Boyd (Novo 45), Darcheville (Beasley 45)
UNUSED SUBS Smith, Thomson, Gow
CHELSEA Cech (Hilario 45); Diarra (Carvalho 45), Ben
Haim, Terry, Johnson (A. Cole 61); J. Cole
(Wright-Phillips 45), Sidwell, Lampard, Malouda (Mikel
45); Shevchenko (Pizarro 45), Drogba (Sinclair 69)
UNUSED SUBS Cudicini, Hutchinson
REFEREE Stuart Dougal
Attendance 50,380