2023-09-21 23:15:40
Betis was defeated 1-0 in Glasgow against Rangers on the first day of the group stage of the Europa League, in a match in which they started dominating, but in which they fell into lethargy as the minutes passed. which made the Scottish team take their breath until they scored the winning goal in the 67th minute through the Senegalese Abdallah Sima. Only that goal made the Spanish team and its bench react, when the Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini moved the bench to give other ideas to the game, which worked, but without enough time for, at least, the tie to arrive.
A good opportunity presented itself at Ibrox Park for Betis to rebuild its figure after faltering on Saturday in the Barcelona field with the 5-0 conceded and to do so they faced a Rangers team, always powerful at home, but far from the one they With Steven Gerrard he won the Scottish league two years ago and in 2022 he reached the final of the Europa League and lost it on penalties with Eintracht Frankfurt at Sevilla’s stadium, the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán.
Pellegrini’s team, despite the league setback, has started the season on a good note and is the favorite to be first in the group in its third consecutive participation in the second continental competition, but to do so it had to prove it in the event, in principle, but complicated of this phase, in which Aris Limassol and Sparta Prague complete the group.
The Scottish team, coached by Englishman Michael Beale, who lost by a landslide in the Champions League preview against Dutch PSV Eindhoven, presented the match as an opportunity to regain self-esteem after a start in the league that is leaving much to be desired. .
One of the novelties was the presence in the goal of the Chilean Claudio Bravo, unprecedented due to an injury since the preseason and who had to force his return due to the injury in Barcelona of the Portuguese Rui Silva, until now a starter at the beginning of the campaign.
Claudio Bravo soon appeared in a Scottish counterattack after four minutes, in which the Welshman Rabbi Matondo was in front of him with great speed, but the Chilean saved the ball with solvency due to the striker’s poor definition.
That was an isolated incident in a match that was controlled by Betis, owner of the ball and almost always in the Glasgow team’s field, which gave the option for the Moroccan Ez Abde, who was making his first start, to put the team in the first trouble. English goal Jack Butland.
Abde, very active on the left wing, had another good pass in the half hour, but it seemed that this was a trigger for Rangers’ reaction, who began to win the duels in the divided balls and, with a vertical game, came closer, Now, a lot of credit to Bravo, who had to intervene again successfully after Sima’s shot from inside the six-yard box.
Sima himself once again created danger at the start of the second half, this time with a great cross on Matondo, who failed to define, as did his compatriot Thomas Lawrence, who saw how the ball thrown over from a distance went wide. on a stringer.
They were the worst moments for Pellegrini’s team, which in the first ten minutes of the restart did not leave their field and in which the Croatian Borna Barisic was also able to open the scoring with a direct free kick that ended with the ball crashing into the crossbar .
Lawrence’s injury at the hour mark, and his replacement by the Dutchman Sam Lammers, seemed to give the Sevillian team a respite, but the local insistence was rewarded shortly after with Sima’s goal after a great save by Bravo, a series of rejections and even the review of the VAR for a possible handball.
The Chilean coach, who did not see it at all clearly before, now made Rodri, Willian José and Ayoze enter the field in one fell swoop, a lot of gunpowder with which to improve what Ez Abde, Borja Iglesias and Luiz Henrique had contributed, and this It was noticed instantly with Betis that went towards him towards the rival area.
The Green and Whites, now, harassed the Scottish team and cornered them in their area, but time was against them to avoid a defeat that was not expected at this start of the European tournament.
1. Rangers: Butland; Tavernier, Goldson, Davies, Barisic; Lundstram, Cifuentes (Jack, m.81); Thanks, Roofe (Dessers, m.89), Lawrence (Lammers, m.62); and Sima (Sterling, m.89).
0. Betis: Bravo; Bellerin, Pezzella, Bartra, Abner; Guido Rodriguez, Marc Rock; Luiz Henry (Ayoze, 72), Isco (Assane Diao, 88), Abde (Rodri, 72); and Borja Churches (Willian Joseph, m.72).
Goals: 1-0, M.67: Sima.
Referee: Lawrence Visser (Belgium). Admonished Godson, Bartra, Bravo and Pezzella.
Incidents: 50,000 spectators at Ibrox Park. Match of the first day of Group C of the Europa League. A minute of silence was observed in memory of the victims of the natural disasters that occurred in Morocco and Libya.
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