Penalty madness
Firstly, it’s safe to say Allan McGregor has announced himself as Rangers No.1 once again. He stepped into the starting line-up tonight in place of the injured Jon McLaughlin The veteran goalkeeper stopped two penalties in quick succession during a few moments of madness at Ibrox. James Sands was sent off for a second-bookable offence as he hauled down Giovanni Simeone inside the area. McGregor saved the initial penalty, before Mateo Politano scored the rebound. This was chopped off by VAR before McGregor then saved from Piotr Zelenski again. The packed Ibrox crowd chanted the keeper’s name. He was close to stopping a third pen too, but Politano’s shot crept in.
The return of El Bufalo
Alfredo Morelos was restored to the starting line-up by Giovanni van Bronckhorst for this tie with Napoli. The Colombian has been out of the picture so far this campaign for well-documented fitness and commitment concerns. He has been on the bench in the last couple of matches against Ajax and Celtic. However, he was given the nod to lead the line at Ibrox in this one. He nearly made the perfect comeback, as an early header went narrowly wide of the Napoli goal. He was busy throughout the night before being replaced on 72-minutes by Antonio Colak
Tried and trusted selected from the start
Rangers signed seven players during the summer transfer window. Not one of them was selected to start this match. There will be some who take a lot from that. Others will not be bothered. Without being inside the head of van Bronckhorst, it’s pretty difficult to estimate how telling that is. As stated, Morelos returned to the start, meaning Colak took a turn on the bench. The likes of Rabbi Matondo, Malik Tillman, Ridvan Yilmaz and Ben Davies were all on the bench. Steven Davis, Scott Arfield and Ryan Jack all played in midfield. The back four was very familiar with James Tavernier, Connor Goldson, James Sands and Borna Barisic getting the nod. The manager clearly wanted to revert back to type in a bid to stop the losing run. It didn't work in the end.
