Glasgow Rangers were unable to extend their winning streak to five matches in all competitions as they were beaten 4-1 by Lyon at Ibrox on Thursday night in the Europa League.
The French side took the lead through Malik Fofana in the tenth minute but it only took five minutes for the Light Blues to strike level, thanks to Tom Lawrence’s opportunistic finish.
However, Lyon rallied and were 3-1 up at half-time after a close-range finish from Alexandre Lacazette and then a scorcher from distance from the former Arsenal man, before Fofana added a fourth in the second half.
There were a number of poor performers on the pitch for Philippe Clement and one of them was central midfielder Connor Barron, who struggled in the middle of the park.
Connor Barron's performance in numbers
The former Aberdeen star endured a difficult evening at Ibrox under the lights as he failed to deal with the pace and quality of the Lyon midfielders.
Barron lost three of his four duels throughout the match and was dribbled past twice, which shows that the French side’s players found it relatively easy to get the better of him in physical contests.
The Scottish midfielder, as you can see in the clip above, also had a horror moment for the second Lyon goal with a poor pass back that sent Fofana through to set up Lacazette.
Barron, who did complete 88% of his passes in total, needed to provide a stronger presence at the base of the Gers midfield to protect John Souttar and Robin Propper, but was unable to do so.
He was not the only poor performer on the pitch for the Ibrox giants, however, as Brazilian left-back Jefte was just as bad as the Scotland U21 international.
Jefte's performance in numbers
The former Fluminense dynamo has enjoyed a run of games in the backline, due to Ridvan Yilmaz’s continued absence, but failed to showcase the best of his abilities against Lyon.
Jefte left a lot to be desired from his work in and out of possession for the Light Blues, as he got into dangerous positions offensively without creating anything of note – completing just two of his 11 attempted crosses.
The 20-year-old defender, who was handed a player rating of 5/10 by GlasgowWorld, lost possession 20 times in total and did not create a single chance for his teammates.
Minutes played
90
Tackles
3
Dribbled past
5x
Possession lost
20x
Ground duels won
4/13
As you can see in the table above, Jefte was also dribbled past a whopping five times as Rayan Cherki got the better of him far too easily throughout the match.
The Brazilian full-back, like Barron, could not handle the pace and quality of the Lyon attackers, as he lost nine of his 13 duels against the French side.
Rangers do not have any other natural left-back options available to them and that could present him with an instant chance to bounce back with a strong performance against St Johnstone in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday.
Clement has unearthed a Ryan Kent-like talisman in "gifted" Rangers star
One of Clement’s summer signings has settled in rather well at Ibrox
ByRoss KilvingtonSep 30, 2024