Rangers ran out rampant 3-0 winners over Bayer Leverkusen in this friendly match at Ibrox—a first in the dugout as manager for Michael Beale.
A quickfire double from Malik Tillman and a goal from Scott Arfield capped off a much-improved Light Blues display.
The new boss said prior to the match that supporters should not base their expectations going forward off this friendly as it was all about giving each player involved a chance to stake their claim ahead of Thursday night’s Premiership return against Hibernian.
Beale will take charge of his first competitive match since re-joining from Queen’s Park Rangers next Thursday night when the Edinburgh side come to Govan.
Still, Rangers fielded a strong 11 from the start for this one, with Antonio Colak and Ryan Jack coming back into the side since the last time the Gers were in action, the 1-1 draw with St. Mirren on November 12—Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s final game in charge.
Allan McGregor was forced into the first save of the match when his reflexes denied Jonathan Tah from close range who headed unchallenged from a corner.
After a decent start where Rangers looked much sharper already, they took the lead through Tillman with barely 15 minutes played, when the midfielder got across the face of goal to guide a James Tavernier cross past Lukas Hradecky.
And it was Tillman at the double five minutes later, aided by another assist from the captain. In what felt like the first corner scored by the Ibrox side in a long, long time, Tillman rose high at the front post to meet the in-swinging delivery and head the ball home for 2-0.
Rabbi Matondo is a player in desperate need of confidence. Operating in a more central role in the first half, he was played through by Glen Kamara and took on the German defence. Unfortunately, his effort in the 24th-minute was curled wide.
Xabi Alonso’s side had spells of possession in a first 45 largely controlled by Rangers. Amine Adli had the best chance for his team when he got in behind Tavernier on the Rangers right, but he could not trouble McGregor as his low drive could only hit the side netting.
As expected, wholesale changes were made at the interval, with Jon McLaughlin, John Lundstram, Steven Davis, Arfield, Scott Wright, Fashion Sakala and Alfredo Morelos all getting a run-out.
Two-goal Tillman made way, alongside McGregor, Jack, Kamara, Matondo, Ryan Kent and Colak.
The hosts looked to assert their dominance ten minutes after the interval when Arfield bore down goal after latching onto a Morelos through ball. Hradecky was there to parry, though.
It was almost a dream return to first-team action for Alex Lowry. On for the substitute Sakala well into the second period, his effort from the edge of the box was fired wide of target.
Leverkusen were still not out of the match at that stage yet. Tavernier made a fantastic goal-line clearance from Noah Pesch. The rebound from McLaughlin’s initial save looked destined to be scored, but the skipper was there to the rescue.
Tavernier had the chance to be the hero again, this time at the other end. In the 80th minute, Morelos was bundled to the ground inside the box and a penalty was awarded. Normally deadly from 12-yards, the Englishman’s attempt clipped the right-hand post on the way past.
The icing was put on the cake for the new gaffer with a third seven minutes from time. After great one-touch exchange between Lowry and Morelos, the Columbian found Arfield unmarked in the middle of the box and he coolly converted.
The manager may have told fans not to use this mid-season friendly as a benchmark, but the early signs of what he wants from his side were present today. The front three played closer together—something he said he desired in his first press conference—and the tempo was greatly improved.
Attendance: 26,192
Rangers
1 Allan McGregor
2 James Tavernier ©
19 James Sands
38 Leon King
44 Adam Devine
17 Rabbi Matondo
8 Ryan Jack
18 Glen Kamara
14 Ryan Kent
71 Malik Tillman
9 Antonio Colak
Substitutes
33 Jon McLaughlin
28 Robby McCrorie
4 John Lundstram
10 Steven Davis
20 Alfredo Morelos
23 Scott Wright
29 Charlie McCann
30 Fashion Sakala
37 Scott Arfield
49 Robbie Fraser
51 Alex Lowry
Bayer 04 Leverkusen
1 Lucas Hradecky©
4 Johnathan Tah
8 Robert Andrich
10 Kerem Demirbay
12 Edmond Tapsoba
19 Moussa Diaby
21 Amine Adli
22 Daley Sinkgraven
23 Adam Hlozek
29 Zidan Serrdemir
32 Ayman Azhil
Substitutes
36 Niklas Lomb
5 Miitchel Bakker
6 Odlion Kossounou
11 Nadiem Amiri
27 Florian Wirtz
31 Madi Monamay
33 Isaiah Okafor
34 Noah Pesch
37 Karim Bellarabi
Four Lads Had A Dream 