Attendance 28,000
It s going to be a long, long season at Ibrox if this afternoon s 2-3 defeat at the hands of Everton is anything to go by as Rangers suffered their second successive pre-season defeat with a slipshod display that was less than impressive.
A 28,000 attendance (considering the time of year) was a healthy indication that the Light Blue legions were still basking in the glory of last season s Treble, but on all the evidence thus far that triumph deserved though it was is now a million light years away.
It was very much a makeshift Rangers line-up with Michael Ball fielded in central defence.
The Goodison Park outfit were the first to settle Wayne Rooney s low fourteenth minute cross only just eluding the inrushing Thomas Radzinski. Three minutes later Peter Lovenkrands homed in on along Maurice Ross pass only to be upended by the outrushing visiting goalkeeper Steve Simonsen. It was a clear foul and in a competitive game a certain red card yet quite astonishingly Referee Stuart Dougal chose to wave play on.
Rangers opened the scoring in twenty minutes with a goal of classic simplicity Steven Thompson heading home Neil McCann s inswinging cross.
Five minutes later former Celt Alan Stubbs came close with a curling twenty-yard effort that was just wide of the target.
It was end-to-end stuff. Thompson turned creator on the half-hour, releasing McCann whose shot was held by Simonsen, then four minutes on at the other end Steve Watson saw his volley blocked by Stefan Klos. Everton suffered a major worry in 36 minutes when Wayne Rooney was stretchered off with an ankle injury following an innocuous challenge from Bob Malcolm.
Rangers almost increased their lead just before the interval when Malcolm s twenty-yard free-kick was parried by Simonsen, the goalkeeper scrambling the loose ball away from the lurking Lovenkrands.
Shota Arveladze replaced the ineffective Nuno Capucho at half-time, and Michael Mols substituted for Peter Lovenkrands in 58 minutes.
Five minutes later Thomas Radzinski succeeded in conning Stuart Dougal into awarding the visitors the softest of penalties when he blatantly dived when challenged by Michael Ball. Former Ranger David Unsworth coolly converted the spot-kick.
Within seconds Andy Dowie was introduced to the fray, replacing Bob Malcolm. Thompson came agonisingly close to notching his second in 72 minutes when his left-foot volley from a McCann cross struck the base of the post.
Five minutes on ex-Ranger Duncan Ferguson received a warm welcome as he was introduced to the fray, but it was his fellow substitute Chinese Internationalist Li Tie who made an immediate impact when, within seconds of coming on, he blasted home Niclas Alexandersson s pass to give Everton the lead.
Rangers were level however with two minutes when Mols scrambled the ball home after an Arveladze shot had been charged down.
The game appeared destined for a 2-2 draw until Everton were awarded a cheap free-kick some twenty yards out in injury time. Alan Stubbs effort was heading for the corner flag until Michael Ball inadvertently headed the shot into his own net for the winning goal.
Manager Alex McLeish afterwards described his teams performance as a spirited performance.
"We had so many players missing. Radzinskis dive for the penalty wasn t the first of his career. I didnt want to play Michael Ball in central defence, but with so many players missing I had little choice. The most important thing is to achieve match fitness.
RANGERS Klos; Ross, Moore, Ball, Muscat; Capucho (Arveladze 45), Malcolm (Dowie 63), Nerlinger, McCann; Lovenkrands (Mols 58), Thompson (De Boer 73)
UNUSED SUBS Burke, Smith, McGregor, W. Gibson
EVERTON Simonsen; Hibbert, Stubbs, Weir, Pistone; Watson (Alexandersson 45), Graveson (Tie 77), Linderoth (Unsworth 58), Naysmith (Gemmill 58); Radzinski (Ferguson 77), Rooney (Campbell 36)
UNUSED SUBS Clark, Gerrard
REFEREE Stuart Dougal