FOOTBALL Live

Saturday August 15, 2009 Finished Ibrox Stadium

4 - 1

Rangers

  • McCulloch 14’
  • Miller 34’, 72’
  • Naismith 83’

Falkirk

  • Finnigan 24’

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  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Rangers
    • Falkirk
    • 90+3 Right that's it from Ibrox. A comfortable...ish 4-1 victory for the defending champions. Kenny Miller the match winner.
    • 90+1 Brian McLean denies Miller a hat-trick with a great last ditch, last minute block.
    • 89' Credit to Falkirk! They are still trying to get back into it.
    • 87' Rangers finish the game with a couple of corners.
    • 85' Falkirk sub. Mitchell for Flynn.
    • 83' GOAL! Man of the match Miller plays in Naismith and the youngster bustles past his man before firing home. Rangers haven't played particularly well but look to be heading to the top of the SPL.
    • 82' Steven Whittaker booked for a late challenge.
    • 81' Rangers are retaining the ball very well now. Naismith and Miller the two best players on show at the moment.
    • 79' Fleck fires straight at Olejnik.
    • 77' Steven Thompson, long term injury absentee, comes on for Kris Boyd.
    • 75' Cris Boyd, fed by Miller, fires wide.
    • 74' Arfield fires over for Falkirk. They look beaten.
    • 72' Great goal from Miller. Picking up the ball, he burst forward, beat his man and fired past Olejnik. You'd be surprised if Falkirk came back from this now.
    • 72' Rangers are beginning to finish the stronger.
    • 71' Olejnik makes a good save from a Boyd header.
    • 70' Bougherra bursts forward but his cross is cut out.
    • 68' Kenny Miller picks up a yellow for a late tackle.
    • 66' Rangers have begun to stamp small authority on the game, but the ball in the final third is not good enough.
    • 65' Smith is offside.
    • 63' That's more like it from Rangers! Great play from Davis, Smith and Miller affords Davis a clear cut chance but he curls it just wide.
    • 61' Walter Smith sends his subs to warm up.
    • 60' Sloppy play from McCulloch concedes a corner.
    • 59' It is all Falkirk at the moment.
    • 57' MacDonald heads a Burton O'Brien corner over. He should have done better considering he was unmarked.
    • 55' Whittaker with a wild effort. Although, that was a bit better from Rangers.
    • 53' MacDonald with another effort, but McGregor saves - again.
    • 52' Slow start from Rangers and Falkirk will be happy to sit relatively deep and hit on the break.
    • 51' Rangers have resorted to going long, but Falkirk are dealing with it easily.
    • 49' Brian McLean this time with a thunderbolt but McGregor is again equal to it
    • 47' Falkirk have the first effort of the second half, Alex McDonald thwarted by McGregor.
    • 46' Right we're back underway. Thomas Scobbie is replaced by Marceta.
    • 45+2 Half-time here. Rangers have been far from fluid but in the result orientated business of title chasing will be more than happy to go in at half time 2-1 up.
    • 45+1' Scobbie ends the half injured.
    • 45' Olejnik with a brilliant double save. First from Naismith and then Boyd, nice headed flick from Miller there.
    • 44' Rangers, through Davis, swiftly move from one end of the field to the other.
    • 43' Rangers waste the corner. A short one yields John Fleck offside.
    • 42' Steven Smith's free-kick takes a defection and Rangers have another corner.
    • 41' Whittaker wins a free-kick just outside the Falkirk box.
    • 40' There is a real midfield battle on here.
    • 38' McNamara concedes a free-kick for a late challenge on Fleck and is rewarded with a yellow.
    • 36' McGregor almost contrives to gift Falkirk a second equaliser, but, having misjudged the ball, the keeper manages to clear for a corner. Falkirk make little of the set-piece.
    • 34' Miller regains the lead for Rangers!!! Fleck finds Davis, who shapes to shoot, but lifts the ball to Miller at the back post and the front man's thunderous header leaves Olejnik with no chance.
    • 33' Naismith and Fleck work the ball well and the ball falls to Kenny Miller but he drags his effort wide.
    • 32' Scobbie and McNamara work the ball well together, but, at the moment, are getting very little support from their colleagues.
    • 30' Rangers have a spate of corners but Falkirk defend them well.
    • 29' Rangers have a corner, but McCulloch can't arch his neck far back enough to get any decent contact on it.
    • 27' Weir moves forward with the ball and plays in Fleck but he flashes his shot over.
    • 26' Ibrox is stunned. Not quite as boisterous now the home fans.
    • 24' GOAL for Falkirk!! Carl Finnigan sneaks in between Bougherra and Weir to flick past McGregor from no more than six yards out. Good finish, poor defending.
    • 23' Falkirk are wasting it whenever they have the ball, they must retain the ball. But Rangers aren't much better, to be honest.
    • 21' Falkirk captain Darren Barr wastes the ball - not good enough.
    • 20' Boyd tries to double the lead but his curler falls into the hands of Olejnik.
    • 18' Vitor Lima is replaced by Alex McDonald.
    • 16' McCulloch now picks up a yellow for his efforts - a late tackle.
    • 14' Great goal...Lee McCulloch wins the ball, takes a step forward and absolutely thrashes the ball home from 25 yards out, leaving Olejnik with little chance.
    • 12' Falkirk have a corner but make nothing of it.
    • 10' Flynn with the shot but McGregor is equal to it. He initiates a quick break but Boyd lets the ball get away from him.
    • 8' Rangers have settled down now and are beginning to pass the ball around Falkirk.
    • 7' Falkirk push forward but Bougherra flicks the cross away.
    • 6' Miller's offside, he couldn't quite bring the ball down anyway.
    • 4' The game has started at a ferocious pace. Rangers - keen to keep pace with Celtic - have started a little wildly and concede two early free-kicks.
    • 2' Miller with an early half chance, but his header dribbles wide.
    • 1 We're underway.
    • - Ok we're almost underway at Ibrox. There is a party atmosphere around the ground, as the home faithful look forward to another Championship season - hopefully.
    • - Rangers only lost one league game in the second half of last season, yet still had to wait until the last game of the season to be crowned Champions. Having seen Celtic's 3-1 victory away to Aberdeen, Walter Smith will be ever so eager to get their season underway with victory.
    • - Falkirk have already been in competitive action this season - that defeat at the hands of Rangers was somewhat tempered with qualification for the Europa League. But having won their first leg at home to FC Vaduz of Liechtenstein 1-0 they were defeated 2-0 away after extra-time. They will hope to have the competitive edge today.
    • - The Gers were seen, in some eyes, to have been fortunate to have won an entertaining final against the Bairns. But that was the Falkirk of John Hughes; new Bairns manager, Eddie May, says his side will be playing a less expansive game this season, having avoided relegation on the last day of last season with victory against Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
    • - Rangers team to play Falkirk: McGregor, Whittaker, Bougherra, Weir, Smith, Naismith, Davis, McCulloch, Fleck, Boyd, Miller. Subs: Alexander, Thompson, Niguez, Beasley, Little, Wilson, Neff. Falkirk team: Olejnik, Barr, McLean, Twaddle, Scobbie, McNamara, O'Brien, Lima, Arfield, Flynn, Finnigan. Subs; Wagenaar, Mitchell, Robertson, Allison, Lynch, MacDonald, Marceta.
    • - The teams are out. Rangers are without thigh strain victim Pedro Mendes, while Nacho Novo is recovering from a dislocated shoulder. Kyle Lafferty and Sasa Papac serve suspensions. As expected Kevin Thompson, following a lengthy spell on the sidelines, starts as a substitute. Falkirk's only absentee is forward Mark Stewart.
    • 14:30 SPL Champions Rangers open the defence of their title with a re-match of last season's Scottish Cup final against Falkirk at Ibrox.

  • Summary

    • 90+1 Brian McLean denies Miller a hat-trick with a great last ditch, last minute block.
    • 72' Great goal from Miller. Picking up the ball, he burst forward, beat his man and fired past Olejnik. You'd be surprised if Falkirk came back from this now.
    • 71' Olejnik makes a good save from a Boyd header.
    • 70' Bougherra bursts forward but his cross is cut out.
    • 63' That's more like it from Rangers! Great play from Davis, Smith and Miller affords Davis a clear cut chance but he curls it just wide.
    • 57' MacDonald heads a Burton O'Brien corner over. He should have done better considering he was unmarked.
    • 55' Whittaker with a wild effort. Although, that was a bit better from Rangers.
    • 47' Falkirk have the first effort of the second half, Alex McDonald thwarted by McGregor.
    • 45' Olejnik with a brilliant double save. First from Naismith and then Boyd, nice headed flick from Miller there.
    • 34' Miller regains the lead for Rangers!!! Fleck finds Davis, who shapes to shoot, but lifts the ball to Miller at the back post and the front man's thunderous header leaves Olejnik with no chance.
    • 24' GOAL for Falkirk!! Carl Finnigan sneaks in between Bougherra and Weir to flick past McGregor from no more than six yards out. Good finish, poor defending.
    • 20' Boyd tries to double the lead but his curler falls into the hands of Olejnik.
    • 14' Great goal...Lee McCulloch wins the ball, takes a step forward and absolutely thrashes the ball home from 25 yards out, leaving Olejnik with little chance.
    • 14:30 SPL Champions Rangers open the defence of their title with a re-match of last season's Scottish Cup final against Falkirk at Ibrox.

Team lineup & ratings

  • Rangers

    Manager: Walter Smith

  • Falkirk

    Manager: Eddie May

  • Lineup

    Live Team Line-Up

    • Rangers

      Manager: Walter Smith

      Starting line-up

      • A. McGregor
      • S. Whittaker Yellow Card
      • M. Bougherra
      • D. Weir
      • S. Smith
      • S. Davis
      • L. McCulloch Goal Yellow Card
      • S. Naismith Goal
      • J. Fleck
      • K. Boyd Substitution Out (77′)
      • K. Miller Goals×2 Yellow Card

      Subs

      • D. Beasley
      • K. Thomson Substitution In77′
      • A. Little
      • D. Wilson
      • N. Alexander
      • Aarón
      • J. Neff

    • Falkirk

      Manager: Eddie May

      Starting line-up

      • R. Olejnik
      • D. Barr
      • B. McLean
      • M. Twaddle
      • T. Scobbie Substitution Out (45′)
      • B. O'Brien
      • S. Arfield
      • J. McNamara Yellow Card
      • V. Lima Substitution Out (18′)
      • R. Flynn Substitution Out (85′)
      • C. Finnigan Goal

      Subs

      • C. Mitchell Substitution In85′
      • A. MacDonald Substitution In18′
      • J. Wagenaar
      • B. Allison
      • S. Lynch
      • D. Robertson
      • D. Marcetta Substitution In45′

  • Rate Players

    Rate Players

    Please to rate the players.

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    • Player Y! Users Expert My Rating
      Goalkeeper
      - -
      Defenders
      Yellow Card - -
      - -
      - -
      - -
      Midfielders
      - -
      Goal Yellow Card - -
      Goal - -
      - -
      Strikers
      Substitution Out77′ - -
      Goals ×2 Yellow Card - -
      Subs
      Substitution In77′ - -
    • Player Y! Users Expert My Rating
      Goalkeeper
      - -
      Defenders
      - -
      - -
      - -
      Substitution Out45′ - -
      Midfielders
      - -
      - -
      Yellow Card - -
      Substitution Out18′ - -
      Substitution Out85′ - -
      Strikers
      Goal - -
      Subs
      Substitution In85′ - -
      Substitution In18′ - -
      Substitution In45′ - -

Comment 134 - 153 of 153

Sort comments by: Most recent | Most rated

  1. can we keep it up with a weak squad ?

    From gerspcboy, on Fri 21 Aug 10:44PM

  2. i wacthed a clip of when celtic flucked a 1.0 win over­ Rangers at Ibrox at xmas there put them 7 points clear­ and the fans were singing 4 in a row here we go ha ha­ ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha aha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha­ ha ha ha ha ha ha !!!! CHAMPIONIES !!!!

    From johnny_little_2k6, on Sun 16 Aug 2:40PM

  3. foeyp ? must be a septic supporter falkirks better than­ aberdeen ! yet again gifted a win ! championies 52 and­ counting WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED!!!

    From johnny_little_2k6, on Sun 16 Aug 2:37PM

  4. sherbet_d how mad are you if teams tied on goal­ differance it goes to team who has scored the most­ hence rangers would be top thicko,do the maths and does­ your mother want her old job back.

    From bluenoseburger, on Sun 16 Aug 6:04AM

  5. Do you have to be under the age of twelve and never­ have been to school to comment on behalf of celtic?

    From kenhowson, on Sat 15 Aug 7:22PM
  6. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Jeezuz! It's only the first day of the season and­ you shower think you've won the league. Why­ don't you lot try reading (if you can) the match­ reports. The scoreline flattered you's. You were­ (by all accounts) nothing special, with the exception­ of Miller maybe. Celtic on the other hand were (by all­ accounts) impressive from start to finish. Long way to­ go yet, can your old men last the pace??????????

    From Black47, on Sat 15 Aug 7:18PM

  7. Although you like other men "sooking your­ baws" il have to pass thanks.
    Ask some Septic­ fans .. they possibly might
    FAIL FAIL!!!

    From FollowWithPride, on Sat 15 Aug 7:10PM
  8. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    I dont give a feck Killie are top in my book cos yous­ are Rankers and I dont like ye's Sook ma baws ya­ fannies!!!

    From sherbet_d, on Sat 15 Aug 5:22PM

  9. SEPTIC GET READY FOR FAILURE AGAIN THIS SEASON SO MUCH­ FOR 4IN A ROW AT LEAST WE WONT HAVE IYS GONNA BE 5.­ SHUT U LOT UP DIDNT IT WHEN THE RANGERS WON THE TITLE U­ LOT WERE LIKE ANTS OUT OF A NEST AT TATTIEDOME AND EVER­ SO QUIET ON THE 24TH MAY WE JUST LOVE HAVING THE LAST­ LAUGH ON U SHOWER LONG MAY IT CONTINUE WE ARE THE­ PEOPLE AND U LOT DONT LIKE THAT WHO CARES ABOUT U OR­ YOUR MANK TEAM AND QUASEMODO IN CHARGE WE HAVE NO­ WORRIES ABOUT 2IN A ROW

    From n.haig123, on Sat 15 Aug 5:13PM

  10. SEPTIC GET READY FOR FAILURE AGAIN THIS SEASON SO MUCH­ FOR 4IN A ROW AT LEAST WE WONT HAVE IYS GONNA BE 5.­ SHUT U LOT UP DIDNT IT WHEN THE RANGERS WON THE TITLE U­ LOT WERE LIKE ANTS OUT OF A NEST AT TATTIEDOME AND EVER­ SO QUIET ON THE 24TH MAY WE JUST LOVE HAVING THE LAST­ LAUGH ON U SHOWER LONG MAY IT CONTINUE WE ARE THE­ PEOPLE AND U LOT DONT LIKE THAT WHO CARES ABOUT U OR­ YOUR MANK TEAM AND QUASEMODO IN CHARGE WE HAVE NO­ WORRIES ABOUT 2IN A ROW

    From n.haig123, on Sat 15 Aug 5:13PM

  11. pt 141 ... you are a @#$%
    we shall not be moved
    FAIL­ FAIL!!!

    From FollowWithPride, on Sat 15 Aug 5:13PM

  12. sherbet, hav no seen thi league, gers are top killy 2nd­ and celtic 3rd haha

    From Scotty 1690, on Sat 15 Aug 5:13PM

  13. Sherbet who is top???? Its rangers, not killie. Just­ like a typical septic fan to make comments before the­ conclusion. Reminds me of last season when you were­ claiming victory in January then cried like the scum­ you are when the mighty gers ran rampant.

    From linzi_shields, on Sat 15 Aug 5:12PM

  14. SHRBET YA FUDD ITS THE TEDDY BEARS AT TOP NOT KILLIE.

    From Gary S, on Sat 15 Aug 5:06PM

  15. Kilmarnock are 2nd
    Smeltic could only manage 3rd, best­ get used to that position ha ha !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    From Sir, on Sat 15 Aug 5:06PM

  16. PT 142 WELL GET OFF OUR PAGE YOU STUPID WEE BOY

    From n.haig123, on Sat 15 Aug 5:06PM

  17. I WENT TO THE NEW CINEMA AT PARKHEAD TODAY TO SEE SLUM­ DOG MILLIONAIRE ,IT WAS AWFUL VIOLENCE,POVERTY,FILTH­ AND SMELLY THEIVING @#$% EVERYWHERE.THEN I THOUGHT IM­ NOT HANGING ABOUT OUTSIDE ANY LONGER SO I WENT IN AND­ WATCHED THE FILM.

    From Gary S, on Sat 15 Aug 5:05PM

  18. PT 140 FACTS FACTS OH AND MORE FACTS ALWAYS GET TO YOU­ LOT OH THE TRUTH HURTS TIM CAN SEE THAT WITH YOUR­ COMMENTS RANGERS TOP OF THE LEAGUE WHATS NEW EH

    From n.haig123, on Sat 15 Aug 5:03PM

  19. WHO REALLY GIVES A FLYING F'CK ABOUT RANGERS V­ FALKIRK? NOT ME THATS FOR SURE

    From FoeyP, on Sat 15 Aug 5:02PM
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    by the way killie are top so ye's supportin them­ noo. You are second on the first day and second on the­ last!!
    HAIL HAIL!!!

    From sherbet_d, on Sat 15 Aug 5:01PM
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