Naismith ends Rangers wait for Champions win

A Steven Naismith strike sent Rangers joint top of Group C as they defeated Bursapor 1-0 at Ibrox in their Champions League clash here on Wednesday.

The Scotland striker showed predatory instincts in the 18th minute when he pounced in the box to lift a Kirk Broadfoot pass over keeper Dimitar Ivankov to score the only goal of the match where the Old Firm side were rarely troubled.

The win ended a three year wait for a Champions League win for the Scottish champions, who lost all three home fixtures in last season’s campaign.

The result coupled with Manchester United’s 1-0 away win at Valencia put Walter Smith’s men level at the top of Group C on four points after two games with back to back games against the La Liga leaders to come for Rangers.

The Gers gaffer wasn’t getting carried away with his side’s first win in 14 attempts in the competition.

“We are just happy we got a win and gained a little bit of confidence,” Smith said.

“We haven’t given up very many opportunities in the two games we’ve had so far but we know we have to remain on top of all the aspects of the game if we are going to do anything in the Champions League.”

Ertugrul Saglam felt his side had done enough to get a point.

“The first goal was a defensive mistake and after that we didn’t play too well,” the Bursaspor boss said.

“In the second-half I was really pleased with our performance and if you look at it overall the fairest result would have been a draw.”

At Ibrox, Smith kept faith with the same personnel and formation that earned his side a valuable away point at Old Trafford in a goalless draw with Manchester United a fortnight previously.

Despite playing with five at the Ibrox side showed their attacking intentions from the off and American midfielder Maurice Edu saw his powerful strike from 20 yards tipped over after five minutes.

Steven Davis then found Madjid Bougherra in the box with a free-kick but the Algerian’s volley was deflected out for a corner as Rangers continued to press.

Their pressure paid off in the 18th minute when the Glasgow giants the lead through Naismith. A cross field ball from Steven Whittaker was headed into the box by Broadfoot and the Scotland striker used his pace to nip in front of Ivankov and knock it over the Bulgarian keeper.

Three minutes later a Davis cross was met at the back post by Lee McCulloch but the midfielder sent his header into the side netting.

Allan McGregor had cut a lonely figure in the Rangers goal but had to be alert to tip a fiercely struck Gokcek Vederson free-kick from 25 yards over the bar on the half-hour mark.

Federico Insua replaced Ivan Ergic and he immediately was on the end of a chance when he met Ozan Ipek’s cross but his header went straight to McGregor.

Kenny Miller was presented with a chance within a minute of the break after Edu played him in but the Scotland striker could only prod the ball off the legs of the outrushing keeper.

Rangers were pushing forward in search of a second goal and Edu was next to come close as he poked the ball inches wide of the post.

The home side’s stoic defence were holding firm as Bursaspor struggled to make any impact with Insua’s long-range effort which flew wide the best the Turkish champions could muster.

With 20 minutes to go Saglam threw on Turgay Bahadir and Argentine Leonel Nunez as his side looked for a way back into the game and Milan Stepanov should have done better when he sliced his shot wide with six minutes to go. However Rangers resolute defending kept the Champions League rookies at bay as they clinched all three points.