Soulé and Lorenzo Pellegrini find the net as AS Roma outclass Glasgow Rangers

There was impressive effectiveness about the way Roma handled this trip to Scotland. Minimum of fuss. Roma from Italy’s capital did, nonetheless, face manageable rivals when placing their European competition bid back on track. There was a obvious gulf in quality between Roma and a the Scottish team side that has now suffered defeat in a team record seven European games in a row.

Positively, the home side at least fought hard during a later period when surrender felt the more likely outcome. Yet, the game was decided as a competition by then. Rangers remain rooted to the foot of the tournament, which should constitute an embarrassment to a team of such stature. The Giallorossi have ambitions once more on making proper impact. One slight disappointment here was in not producing a scoreline that truly reflected men against boys.

Amazingly, this represented only Roma’s second-ever continental encounter with Scottish opposition since the historic Fairs Cup business with Hibs in 1961. Their last such match, against the Terrors 23 years later, became marred (to put it mildly) by the bribing of a referee. In those days, Scottish clubs could vie with the top sides in the continent. This season has seen the co-efficient drop to a level that will soon have huge consequences.

The new manager’s key attribute so far as the fanbase are see it is that he isn’t his predecessor. The latter’s ghastly spell as the manager continued for 123 days in the early part of the campaign. Röhl, the new man at the helm, has shown promise though within a tiny sample size. The dugouts witnessed a clash of generations; Röhl is 36, his counterpart the Roma manager is sixty-seven.

A further factor was far more striking as the teams took the field. Rangers’ obvious short stature against the visitors looked ominous. That concern was proven within 13 minutes as Bryan Cristante easily redirected a set-piece at the near post. At the back, Matías Soulé sprinted into space to knock his team in front. A Roma team minus the injured their young striker and their star attacker, who have been criticised for lack of cutting edge even with decent performances in this campaign, were delighted with their early advantage.

The Ibrox side could have equalised immediately. Instead, the forward screwed his shot wide after a mix-up in the Roma defence. The player’s eight-million-pound signing from Everton has piled pressure on the club’s recruitment team. He has at least the physique to be an effective striker but seems unwilling or unable to utilize them fully.

The Italian outfit dominated first-half the ball from that point. Roma doubled their lead through Lorenzo Pellegrini, whose bent effort into the bottom corner of Jack Butland’s net arrived after a pass from Artem Dovbyk. Rangers will lament the fact the midfielder stood in complete freedom but it was a gorgeous finish. The stadium, usually a raucous venue on continental evenings, had been quietened nine minutes until halftime. Even the boos which met the interval were timid; the home team were simply in the process of being outclassed.

The second period began against a curious atmosphere. Those Rangers fans directed their focus for the latest time towards the top executive, Patrick Stewart, and transfer chief, the director. Two banners, clearly menacing in message, depicted the duo with bullseyes on their images. It raises questions what the Rangers chairman thinks about all this. Ultimately, the chairman enjoyed an low-profile life as a successful businessman in the US before leading a takeover of this club. Fans have not targeted Cavenagh so far but there is a mutinous mood in the air. It is one which is easy to understand; Rangers’ management is completely unconvincing.

Right on cue, the striker was sent through on goal on the 60-minute mark and hit the outside of the goal. This actually triggered Rangers’ best period of the game, in which their substitute Thelo Aasgaard fired just wide. Yet, however, difficult to gauge the visitors’ continued offensive intent until Zeki Celik was presented with a opportunity from close range which he inexplicably lifted and onto the underside of the bar.

That was it as far as meaningful chances were concerned. The series of substitutions from each side meant this fixture ended more in the fashion of a pre-season friendly than serious contest. That scenario benefited Roma fine. It prompted reflection to consider how on earth the Glasgow club, finalists in this tournament in recently and strong enough of the quarter-finals a season ago, arrived at the point of just participating.