Rangers lose to Napoli in Champions League group match at Ibrox

Napoli have beaten Rangers 3-0 in the Champions League group stage match at Ibrox, handing the home side their third consecutive defeat.

Rangers were holding their own against the Italian side until the second half sending-off of defender James Sands. Following his red card, Allan McGregor saved a penalty, and the retake, from Piotr Zielinski.

Napoli were awarded a second spot kick eight minutes later that Matteo Politano scored. Giacomo Raspadori added a second with five minutes left to go and substitute Tanguy Ndombele added a late third.

Rangers went into the game hoping to reverse a run of form that had seen the team suffer back-to-back 4-0 defeats against Celtic and Ajax.

Manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst had insisted he wouldn’t change his playing philosophy but he did change his line-up.

McGregor replaced the injured Jon McLaughlin in goal but Steven Davis, Ryan Jack and Scott Arfield came into the team, as did Alfredo Morelos to start his first game since March.

After a sombre minutes silence to commemorate the death of Queen Elizabeth, and a rendition of God Save The King from the home support, the game started at full pace.

Morelos had a header off target in the first minute and Cielinski hit the post with a powerful shot from the edge of the box.

Scott Arfield and Giovanni Simeone had chances, and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia had an effort that went wide but neither side could find a breakthrough in the first half. The second provided much more drama.

A Napoli break saw Simeone run through on goal but a Sands tackle was judged to be a foul and the American was shown a second yellow card.

At the resulting penalty, Zielinsk’s shot was stop by McGregor but Politano pounced to net the rebound. A lengthy VAR check saw referee Mateu Laho order a retake and McGregor saved yet again, sparking a deafening response from the Ibrox crowd.

The game didn’t remain goalless for long. Borna Barisic turned to block a shot and the ball struck his arm, leading to another penalty.

This time Politano stepped up and he put his shot low in the corner, just out of McGregor’s reach.

A goal ahead and a man up, Napoli pressed home their advantage. Mathisa Olivera set Raspador up to tuck away a second and with the game won and the final seconds ticking down, Ndombele scored from inside the box to add gloss to the scoreline.