FC Nurnberg 0 - 2 Rangers Sun 26/07/09

GOALS from super subs Steven Naismith and Nacho Novo gave Rangers a stunning 2-0 win over FC Nuremberg in Germany.

After a tight first-half in which both teams failed to take their chances the Light Blues produced a fine performance after the interval to defeat a Bundesliga side that had played no fewer than nine pre-season games prior to today's friendly.

Walter Smith chose one of the strongest teams available to him for the club's first match of the summer.

The Ibrox boss deployed his men in a 4-5-1 formation initailly with Kenny Miller and Kyle Lafferty supporting Kris Boyd from the flanks.

Pedro Mendes and Steven Davis were joined in the centre of midfield by Charlie Adam, with a backline of Steven Whittaker, Madjid Bougherra, David Weir and Sasa Papac picking itself.

Smith dropped a heavy hint that Neil Alexander will begin the season as his number one goalkeeper by picking him for the hardest game of the trip.

But Allan McGregor might have given the gaffer something to think about with a superb second-half display in which he made several stunning stops.

And while Kevin Thomson did not make the starting eleven his appearance with thirty minutes remaining was a huge boost for the traveling Bears scattered in the away end of the impressive Frankenstadion.

This was Gers' first game since their Scottish Cup final win at the end of May and at times it showed as passes occasionally  went astray and several goalscoring chances were squandered.

But that aside the 90 minutes proved to be a perfect opener for the Ibrox stars who had to deal with soaring temperatures as the game progressed.

The opening stages were as you would expect with both teams enjoying plenty of possession and Nuremberg looking sharp.

And with five minutes on the clock the home side almost got off to a great start when Slovakian midfielder Marek Mintal found space in the last third but skewed his shot wide.

Only ten minutes later his strike partner Isaac Boakye failed to ripple the net from a similar position but this time it was a bit of magic from Neil Alexander that denied the Ghanaian.

Having ridden through an early storm Rangers started to push forward with more intent although Miller, Boyd and Mendes were all guilty of missing good opportunities to break the deadlock.

At the start of the second-half the vistors made changes as expected with McGregor and Naismith going on and it was the latter that opened the scoring three minutes in to the restart.

The 22-year-old did brilliantly to slip away from his markers on the left wing and after bearing down on goal he picked his spot with a fine finish beyond Raphael Schafer.

With the game now opening up the second-half saw both teams firing shots on goal and both keepers being kept on their toes.

But it took until the 71st minutes before Rangers bagged their second goal which effectively killed Nuremburg's chances.

Naismith found Mendes overlapping to the byline and when the midfielder's cross was spilled by Schafer Novo was on hand to gleefully poke the ball home from two yards.

The Rangers bench jumped on to the track to celebrate while the Nuremberg fans were left scratching their heads having watched their heroes being outclassed in the second-half.

It will be Naismith and Novo that will grab the headlines tomorrow for their scoring exploits but a lot of credit must go to the Gers back four, all of whom were given 90 minute work-outs on a baking hot day.

They came through their first test of the summer with flying colours and Walter Smith must be delighted with the commitment and skill that was on display, especially in a terrific second-half.

Teams

RANGERS: Alexander (McGregor 46), Whittaker, Weir, Bougherra, Papac, Davis (Fleck 81), Mendes, Adam (Thomson 60), Lafferty (Velicka 75), Boyd (Naismith 46), Miller (Novo 60),

Subs: McCulloch, Gow, Niguez, Beasley, Little, Shinnie, Smith,

FC Nuremberg: Shchafer, Diekmeier, Wolf, Maroh, Eigler (Bunjaku 46), Mintal (Charisteas 70), Boakye (Vidosic 55), Gundogan (Broich 46), Kluge (Risse 60), Pinola, Mnari (Welnicki 70),

Subs: Stephan, Gygax, Perchtold, Judt, Frantz, Bieler, Spiranovic, Kaya,

Ref: Robert Hartman

Man-of-the-match: Naismith

Attendance: