Soldado brace sets up Valencia´s Rangers romp

Spain forward Roberto Soldado scored a brace as Valencia defeated Rangers 3-0 at the Mestalla Stadium on Tuesday to boost their chances of reaching the knockout stage of the Champions League.

Soldado, a 10-million-euro summer signing from Getafe, scored his first Champions League goals for Valencia on 32 and 69 minutes with Tino Costa adding a late third to inflict a first defeat of the season on Walter Smith’s side.

“I am happy with the goals and an important Champions League win for us,” said Soldado. “This (playing in the Champions League) is one of the big reasons I signed for Valencia.

“We knew all about the spirit of Rangers and that it would be difficult to score against them, however, I got the rebound from the corner for the important first goal and we built on that.”

Valencia leapfrog Rangers into second place on seven points, three behind group C leaders Manchester United. Rangers have five points and Bursaspor have zero.

Rangers had never won a European match in Spain and the defeat to Valencia extended that woe and their record on Spanish soil is nine defeats and two draws from 11 visits.

“The disappointment is losing a goal from a set-piece, if they had got a goal at that time in open play it would have been more acceptable,” Rangers manager Smith told Skysports.

“We had a chance with (Steven) Naismith’s header on to the post but it was a very difficult night. We know coming away from home we’re going to have to have a little bit of luck.”

Valencia’s captain and veteran goalkeeper Cesar Sanchez, 39, was back between the sticks after recovering from illness and coach Unai Emery fielded an attacking line-up of two wingers and two forwards.

Rangers were relieved to see US international midfielder Maurice Edu shrug off a knock to start and Scotland international midfielder Lee McCulloch was also back after missing the first clash between the two sides through injury.

Valencia had been struggling of late with one point from nine in the league and their fans booed the team off after a 1-1 home draw with Real Zaragoza on Saturday.

With three minutes on the clock Valencia had their first sight on goal with David Albelda’s pass finding Juan Mata but the Spanish international’s shot from an acute angle was blocked by Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor.

Rangers responded by going agonisingly close to scoring in the ninth minute with Steven Naismith cutting inside off the left flank before smashing a right-footed shot against the post.

Minutes later McGregor, making his 200th appearance for Rangers, pulled off a fine save to deny Mata who looked certain to score after a neat cut-back from Aritz Aduriz.

Valencia got the breakthrough they wanted on 32 minutes as Rangers failed to clear a corner. The ball fell to Soldado, whose scuffed shot crept past McGregor and the defender on the post.

It was Valencia’s first Champions League home goal of the season — having lost 1-0 to Manchester United in their other group match at the Mestalla.

The second arrived in the 69th minute with the ex-Real Madrid forward exchanging passes with Mata before cutting his shot across McGregor who got a hand to the shot but couldn’t keep it out.

Naismith hit the post for the second time with a header in the closing minutes but Valencia added a third through Costa two minutes from time and sealed an important victory that puts them within sight of qualification to the knockout stage.

Valencia’s next match is at Bursaspor, who were beaten 3-0 by United on Tuesday, on November 24 while Rangers host Manchester United at Ibrox Stadium.