Hamburg 2 - 1 Rangers Tues 29/11/11

A LATE mistake by Neil Alexander gifted Hamburg victory as they edged out Rangers 2-1 in a mid-season friendly in Germany.

The Light Blues struggled to match their Bundesliga opponents for much of the evening at the Imtech Arena.

But Thomas Bendiksen's first senior goal drew them level with 20 minutes to go after Ivo Ilicevic had put the hosts in front before the break.

It seemed at one point as though the SPL champions might go on to win in the closing stages as they pushed for a second.

But Heung Min Son took advantage of slack goalkeeping by Alexander to settle the game in front of 12,117 fans.

Boss Ally McCoist left several first-team stars at home after they played at Kilmarnock just two days ago, including Steven Davis, Dorin Goian and Nikica Jelavic.

Kyle Lafferty and Alejandro Bedoya missed out through injury as well so there was a chance for some fringe players to come in and impress.

Kane Hemmings began as a lone front man while John Fleck, Matt McKay, Juanma Ortiz and Ross Perry were handed starting jerseys.

Kyle Bartley also returned from injury and Gregg Wylde, fresh from a two-game suspension, got some valuable game time too as Steven Whittaker captained the side.

Hamburg had most of the early possession and although Wylde burst clear down the left on a couple of occasions, he couldn't make the most of the good positions he got into.

He wasn't the only one guilty of that though and Juanma Ortiz was equally wasteful at time on the right flank.

The hosts had the best chance of the opening exchanges when Slobodan Rajkovic headed against the post from a corner.

And Robert Tesche wasn't far away moments later when his rasping drive arrowed past Alexander but also just cleared the crossbar.

Gers struggled to find any great rhythm but that wasn't a huge surprise given the makeshift look of their side.

Nevertheless, they settled as the first period wore on although their decision making in the final third didn't always match their decent build up play leading up to that point.

Whittaker nearly gave Rangers a spark when he rifled goalwards after good work by Kirk Broadfoot but Tom Mickel saved before spilling. Hemmings hurried in as he chased down the rebound but the keeper reacted well to gather before the young Englishman could score.

Hamburg's response was good and seven minutes before the break they showed enough urgency going forward to take the lead.

Ivo Ilicevic was one of the few players who looked a real threat any time he got on the ball with his good movement. And he played a neat one-two with Tesche - whose backheel was terrific - before guiding the ball beyond Alexander to make it 1-0.

The Germans continued to press after the interval and Son had a go from a header but Alexander had it covered as it flew wide.

Although Maurice Edu had a shot blocked at the other end, it was Hamburg who were on top and Zhi Gin Lam's attempt needed a deflection to take it behind for a corner.

The Chinese player had two more good opportunities to score but missed and he'll have been particularly annoyed with the second one he spurned.

The same will undoubtedly apply to Tesche, who did ever so well to break the offside trap only to smack a volley on his instep off the top of the bar.

As time wore on, it became apparent Torsten Fink's side could come to regret wasting so many openings.

And sure enough Rangers burst into life and pegged them back with 20 minutes to go when two substitutes combined to make it 1-1.

They had barely tested Mickel all night when Sone Aluko set off on a rampage down the right flank and beat two men.

But the goalie had no chance when the Nigerian's cut back found Bendiksen and he steered a composed finish into the net from 12 yards for his first top-team goal for the club. Scoring did a lot for Gers and they visibly grew in confidence as they began to knock the ball about.

But a blunder by Alexander with nine minutes to go allowed the home team to go back ahead in disappointing circumstances,

Perry chested back to his goalkeeper from close range and although he was under pressure, it should have been an easy take.

He spilled it though and although he got down well to block Ilicevic, Son was on hand to fire the resulting loose ball over the line.

Bendiksen had a chance to level again with the last kick of the game after Aluko was hauled down 30 yards from goal.

But his curling effort flew a yard over and with that it was the hosts who secured a morale-boosting win as they look to climb the Bundesliga table.

Teams

RANGERS: Alexander; Whittaker (McMillan 57), Perry, Bartley (Kerkar 66), Broadfoot; Ortiz (Aluko 60), McKay (Bendiksen 66), Edu (McCulloch 60), Wylde; Fleck; Hemmings (McCabe 72),

Subs:  McGregor, Cole,

Hamburg:

Subs:

Ref:

Man-of-the-match: Perry

Attendance: 12,117