Matías Soulé along with Lorenzo Pellegrini find the net as Roma dominate Glasgow Rangers

There was impressive effectiveness about the way Roma handled this trip to Glasgow. Without much drama. Roma from Italy’s capital did, nonetheless, meet favourable opposition when placing their European competition bid back on track. There was a obvious gulf in quality between the Serie A outfit and a Rangers squad that has now suffered defeat in a team record seven continental matches consecutively.

Positively, Rangers at least huffed and puffed during a second half when capitulation felt the probable outcome. Yet, the game was settled as a contest by then. Rangers remain rooted to the bottom of the Europa League, which should constitute an embarrassment to a club of this standing. Roma have ambitions once more on achieving significant success. One slight disappointment here was in not delivering a scoreline that truly reflected the mismatch in quality.

Amazingly, this represented only the Roman club’s second European joust with Scottish opposition since the historic Fairs Cup business with Hibernian in 1961. Their last such match, against Dundee United 23 years later, became overshadowed (to put it politely) by the corruption of a referee. Back then, teams from Scotland could compete with the top sides in Europe. The current campaign has seen the co-efficient drop to a level that will soon have huge ramifications.

Danny Röhl’s key attribute up to now as the Rangers support are concerned is that he isn’t Russell Martin. Martin’s dismal tenure as the manager continued for 123 days in the early part of the campaign. The German coach, the new man at the helm, has displayed potential albeit within a tiny sample size. The dugouts witnessed a clash of generations; Röhl is 36, his counterpart Gian Piero Gasperini is 67.

Another element was far more striking as the teams took the field. Rangers’ glaring short stature against the visitors looked worrying. This point was confirmed within the opening quarter-hour as the Roma midfielder comfortably redirected a set-piece at the front post. At the back, Matías Soulé sprinted into space to knock his team ahead. A Roma team minus the unavailable their young striker and Paulo Dybala, who have been questioned for lack of cutting edge even with decent performances in this campaign, were delighted with their quick lead.

Rangers should have equalised immediately. Instead, the forward sent his effort off target after a defensive error in the visitors’ backline. The player’s £8m signing from the Toffees has piled pressure on the Rangers transfer hierarchy. Chermiti possesses at least the physical attributes to be an effective centre forward but appears unwilling or unable to utilize them fully.

Roma controlled opening period possession thereafter. Roma doubled their lead through their captain, whose bent effort into the bottom corner of the goalkeeper’s net arrived after a pass from the Ukrainian forward. The hosts will bemoan the fact Pellegrini stood in complete freedom but it was a gorgeous finish. Ibrox, usually a boisterous venue on continental evenings, had been silenced nine minutes until halftime. The discontent which met the interval were timid; Rangers were simply in the midst of being outclassed.

After the break began against a curious backdrop. Those Rangers fans directed their focus for the latest time towards the club’s chief executive, the CEO, and sporting director, Kevin Thelwell. A pair of displays, obviously sinister in tone, showed the duo with targets on their images. It raises questions what the club owner thinks about the situation. After all, Andrew Cavenagh enjoyed an low-profile career as a wealthy entrepreneur in the US before leading a acquisition of this club. Fans have not targeted the owner so far but there is a rebellious mood around the club. This is easy to understand; Rangers’ leadership is completely unconvincing.

As if scripted, the striker was played in on goal on the 60-minute mark and found only the side netting. This actually triggered the home side’s finest spell of the game, in which their substitute Thelo Aasgaard fired just wide. Yet, however, hard to determine the visitors’ remaining offensive intent until the full-back was presented with a chance from close range which he inexplicably hit up and onto the underside of the bar.

That was it as far as meaningful chances were concerned. The series of substitutions from both teams meant this fixture ended more in the style of a summer exhibition than serious contest. That scenario benefited the Italians perfectly. It prompted reflection to ponder how exactly the Glasgow club, runners-up in this competition in 2022 and worthy of the quarter-finals a last year, arrived at the point of making up the numbers.