Attendance 37,000
Rangers crashed at home tonight for the second successive Ibrox Friendly going down 0-3 at the hands of Arsenal in a game where the shortcomings and limitations of the home squad were all too readily exposed.
Anyone with any doubts over the validity of the criticism Rangers suffered following the German tour, the Everton fixture, and the close season transfer movement can surely be left in no doubt that a long, hard season lies ahead for the Light Blues following tonight s proceedings when Rangers were comprehensively outplayed and outclassed.
There was a healthy 37,000 audience in attendance for the visit of Arsenal and the London club received a warm welcome, being applauded onto the park by all sides of the ground.
The Gunners fielded a much stronger line-up than that fielded at Parkhead last Saturday, clearly regarding this fixture as the key game of their pre-season preparations.
Rangers almost made the perfect start when Mikel Arteta s seventh minute inswinging free-kick struck the foot of the post.
Nine minutes later Steven Thompson took possession of a Ronald De Boer slip on the eighteen-yard line, his turn and shot flashing just wide.
Rangers were making all the running at this stage another Arteta free-kick in nineteen minutes being beaten out by Jens Lehmann.
The opening goal when it arrived however came at the other end Edu s 25-yard drive looked to be covered by Stefan Klos until it took a wicked deflection off Maurice Ross to give Arsenal a 1-0 lead in 31 minutes.
Three minutes later Francis Jeffers played a one-two with Freddie Ljungberg only to see his eighteen-yard shot turned behind by Klos.
The introduction of former Ranger Giovanni Van Bronckhorst at the interval received a friendly reception from the home support.
The mood of the crowd changed somewhat two minutes later however when Referee Kenny Clark awarded Arsenal the most ludicrous of penalties when Patrick Viera blatantly dived following an innocuous challenge from Bob Malcolm. Clark must have been the only man inside the stadium who believed it was a penalty, and perhaps the greater pity is that a great player like the
Frenchman felt the need to cheat like that in a friendly, but a spot-kick it was and Lauren duly made it 2-0.
The game was now effectively over although Rangers substitute Michael Mols almost reduced the deficit in 53 minutes when his turn and shot from Christian Nerlinger s pass tested Lehmann.
Five minutes later however it was 3-0 when Sol Campbell headed home a Dennis Bergkamp free-kick.
Arsenal were now well in command and were presented with a golden opportunity to make it four in 77 minutes when Craig Moore fouled Ljungberg for a second penalty. This was a legitimate award, and ironically Klos denied Lauren a second goal when he made a superb save from the Cameroon International s spot-kick.
Klos again came to Rangers rescue with four minutes left when he defied Aliadiere, but by now Arsenal were so much on top that it scarcely mattered.
Manager Alex McLeish tried to put things into some kind of perspective:
We had so many players missing you need your strongest line-up to face a team like Arsenal. We played well in the first-half, but conceded an extremely soft penalty.
Arsenal Boss Arsene Wenger was diplomatic:
This was the first pre-season game we have played with our full-strength side. We controlled the second-half, but Rangers minds were very much on Saturday.
Asked to compare the two Old Firm sides, he observed: Celtic are stronger defensively, but Rangers are better going forward.
RANGERS Klos; Ross (S, Smith 82), Moore, Malcolm, Ball; Arteta (Hughes 45), Ferguson (Burke 62), Nerlinger, Lovenkrands (Mols 45); Thompson, De Boer (Muscat 82)
UNUSED SUB McGregor
ARSENAL Lehmann; Lauren (Halls 79), Campbell (Cygan 62), Toure, Cole; Edu, Viera (Pennant 62), Parlour (Van Bronckhorst 45), Ljungberg (Clichy 79); Jeffers (Kanu 62), Bergkamp (Aliadiere 79)
UNUSED SUB Taylor