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Gers campaign ends with whimper
22:45, Dec 9 2009
Rangers' Champions League campaign ended with a whimper rather than a bang as they slumped to a 1-0 defeat against Sevilla in their final Group G match.
The Ibrox side had hoped to claim at least one victory in the tournament this season but a Frederic Kanoute penalty early on proved to be the difference between the two teams.
In fact, Rangers would have felt fortunate to leave Spain with such a narrow defeat on a night when the hosts dominated and Walter Smith's side failed to trouble Andres Palop in the Sevilla goal.
Rangers could have found themselves trailing after a few minutes when Kanoute burst through on goal and his angled drive from close range looked set to find the back of the net before Sasa Papac hooked off the line.
But the Glasgow giants were behind with just eight minutes gone when referee Bertrand Layec ruled that Steven Whittaker had tripped Fernando Navarro in the box. Kanoute stepped up for the spot-kick and sent goalkeeper Allan McGregor the wrong way to convert with ease.
There was another close call for Rangers when McGregor raced off his line to beat Kanoute to the ball, which broke for Jesus Navas but his chipped effort was cleared off the line by Madjid Bougherra.
Rangers still failed to cause many problems for the Sevilla defence after the break and it was the home side who were threatening again when a cut-back from Navas was smothered by McGregor, with Kanoute and Dirnei Renato loitering with intent in front of goal.
Sevilla threw Aldo Duscher into the action for the final 15 minutes and he almost had an immediate impact with a blistering shot from the edge of the box that a full stretch McGregor just managed to tip over the crossbar.
Didier Zokora was then denied by the woodwork when his shot smacked off the inside of the post before Navas fired over from the rebound.
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