Rangers face a fraught trip to Istanbul in a fortnight's time with their Champions League hopes hanging by the slenderest of threads. The Ibrox club, reduced to 10 men after the dismissal of Michael Mols, never seriously looked like making that second-leg trip a formality.
Last night's first half was too frenetic to allow a pattern to develop and inside 10 seconds Scott Wilson was the victim of a crude foul by Michael Revivo; then, remarkably, no action was taken by the referee after Mustafa twice tried to kick Claudio Caniggia.
The Turks were not content to sit back and their frequent forays forward threatened to expose the glaring frailties that have already been a feature of Rangers' short season, and in one such attack Mert was allowed the freedom of Ibrox but fired his 25-yard drive well over.
Michael Mols replaced Caniggia on the re-start, although not for long, as it turned out. It was proving to be very frustrating for Rangers and when Mols and Samuel Johnson clashed in the centre circle after 56 minutes it sparked a free-for-all involving 19 of the 22 players, with Rustu flattening the Dutch striker. It was sorted out, to the disgust of the home support, with the Rangers man being sent off while the goalkeeper and Johnson were booked.
RANGERS (4-4-2): Klos; Vidmar, Moore, Wilson, Numan; Ricksen, Hughes, Konterman, McCann; Caniggia (Mols, h.t), Flo.
FENERBAHCE (3-6-1): Rustu; Ogun, Mirkovic, Umit; Mert, Mustafa, Revivo, Lazetic, Abdullah, Johnson; Rapaic.
Referee: U Meier (Switz).
