Philippe Clement insists desire and hunger carried Rangers to victory
Philippe Clement insists Rangers’ desire and hunger in their convincing 4-0 Europa League win over FCSB at Ibrox was fuelled by being “sick of losing”.
The Belgian boss came under enormous pressure after the 1-0 defeat at Kilmarnock on Sunday left the Light Blues six points behind William Hill Premiership leaders Celtic and Aberdeen and the previous Euro game at Ibrox ended in a 4-1 win for French side Lyon.
There was an early reprieve when the Romanian outfit had the ball in the net only for a foul to be called but midfielder Tom Lawrence opened the scoring in the 10th minute and wide-man Vaclav Cerny fired in a double, one either side of the break with second-half substitute Hamza Igamane scoring his first goal for the Gers since signing in the summer from Moroccan side AS FAR
“We were all sick of losing,” said Clement, who revealed striker Cyriel Dessers apologised after the game for coming off the pitch with an eye injury which required Igamane to be called off the bench.
“The players, the staff, everybody was disappointed about that.
“We wanted to stand up all together, and that’s what they’ve been doing. It’s good also that it was in this way, because it’s in Europe.
“Somebody told me also it’s more than 20 years ago that Rangers won a group stage game with four goals of a difference.
“So it’s a good reference in that way, that it’s not so easy to do things like that. I still see a lot of things that we can improve in this game, but I’m happy that everybody can see that there’s potential in this squad.
“Like I’ve been saying the last weeks and months, we need time to get everything together, to connect everything together, and to get better and better.
“So I’m happy also with the goal from Igamane, his first goal for Rangers at Ibrox.
“All these things help a lot in the adaptation of the new players coming in.”
On Dessers’ “strange” departure from the pitch in the second half, the Belgian boss, who will have midfielder Lawrence assessed after he had to go off with a twisted knee, said: “Cyril got a knock or a finger in his eye or something in his eye, so he lost sight.
“He could not see good anymore. He was quite emotional about it because he wanted to stay on the pitch, but he didn’t see anything, so he ran off the pitch. That was a really strange moment for me, but he apologised after the game.
“It’s better to sit down and give time for your team-mate to come in but it was in the emotions of wanting to win, wanting to react, wanting to play well, what he was doing in the game.
“No problems with that, but it’s good lessons also for this young squad in that way, to take every moment in a really professional way.”
There was less than two minutes played when David Miculescu robbed Jack Butland as he dithered on the ball and put it into the empty net but Italian referee Marco Di Bello had signalled for a foul, sparing the blushes of the Gers keeper.
Clement said: “Yeah, it’s not something you want to see in that moment.
“And Jack knows that also, but it’s a fall on him. So it was not a goal, it’s a clear fall. But you want to stay out of the risk of that situation. “