Hutton header gives Rangers edge over Partizan in dire clash

RANGERS go into the draw for the last 32 of the UEFA Cup today as winners of Group A after a 1-0 win over Partizan Belgrade at Ibrox.

Defender Alan Hutton’s first goal of the season after 54 minutes gave the home side all three points.

He headed a Nacho Novo free-kick past goalkeeper Nikolas Asprogenis for the only real highlight of a dire game.

But only some poor finishing from the visitors prevented a troubled night for Paul le Guen’s side.

Partizan looked sharp and had a great chance to score after only seven minutes after a mistake by defender Brahim Hemdani, but Nenad Mirosavljevic botched his header from close range in spectacular fashion.

In the 17th minute, Rangers made their first positive contribution of the night. Stand-in skipper Gavin Rae worked a neat one-two with Novo but his scuffed shot struck the outside of the post before going wide.

The Light Blues made hard work of dominating a side bottom of the section. In the 29th minute, Novo played Filip Sebo in but the Slovakian striker hit Asprogenis with his first effort from 10 yards out, then struck the goalkeeper again. Three minutes before the interval, Novo was played in by Buffel on the left but the Spaniard took one touch too many and his left-footed drive from 16 yards was blocked by Asprogenis.

Rangers forced a couple of corners in quick succession after the interval but that proved something of a false dawn as they soon returned to lacklustre mode. But in the 54th minute the Govan side took the lead from an unusual source. Sebo won a soft free-kick on the right when challenged by Marko Lomic.

When Novo swung the cross into the penalty area, Hutton stooped 16 yards out and headed the ball into the corner of the net.

The Ibrox men relaxed but were almost caught out on the hour when a snap-shot from Partizan midfielder Ivan Tomic required a decent save from Allan McGregor. At the other end, Sebo’s powerful free-kick was easily saved by Asprogenis.

There followed occasional moments of excitement.

The visitors missed a sitter in the 79th minute when Mirosavljevic laid the ball back to substitute Ljubisa Vukelja, but the Partizan player missed the target from eight yards out.

Then, as the home defence slept, McGregor pulled off a great save from Partizan substitute Nenad Marinkovic’s close-range volley.

RANGERS: McGregor, Hutton (Lowing 75), Rodriguez, Svensson, Smith, Hemdani, N’Diaye, Buffel (Stanger 80), Rae, Sebo, Novo (Sionko 64).

PARTIZAN BELGRADE: Asprogenis, Rnic, Mihajlov, Djordjevic, Lomic, Zajic, Smiljanic, Tomic, Nebojsa Marinkovic (Vukelja 69), Bosancic (Nenad Marinkovic 67), Mirosavljevic (Gulan 89).

REFEREE: Ruud Bossen (Holland).