Caniggia double beats Maribor
Rangers 3 NK Maribor 1 Rangers win 6-1 on aggregate
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Your support makes all the difference.Rangers earned themselves a Champions' League trip to Istanbul after a Tore Andre Flo equaliser and a Claudio Caniggia double saw off Maribor. The Scottish side now take on Fenerbahce, with the first leg at Ibrox next week, in the final qualifying round before the group stages.
Rangers, 3-0 up from the first leg, were made to work for their win, though, as the side from Slovenia dominated the early exchanges. Soon after an early effort from Caniggia flew over, Maribor silenced an expectant Ibrox. Bert Konterman should have cleared Stipe Balajic's through pass easily but somehow failed to do so and Vanja Starcevic was able to run through and beat Stefan Klos with a low drive.
Four times Maribor went close to doubling their lead before the break: Bostjan Znuderl's free-kick curled just over, Klos then had to come off his line to deny Znuderl, Andrej Kvas saw a shot deflected away before Balajic's effort was stopped by another excellent save from Klos.
The German goalkeeper was needed within two minutes of the restart, blocking from Samir Duro at close range at the expense of a corner. It was the last chance Maribor had to get back into the tie. On 54 minutes Rangers made a tactical change: Russell Latapy was replaced by Scott Wilson, with Konterman moving up into midfield. It paid instant dividends, Flo tapping in an equaliser within a minute.
Three minutes later Rangers were in front on the night, with Caniggia the first to respond to Stephen Hughes' blocked shot. In the 73rd minute the Argentinian wrapped up the win when he drilled the ball past goalkeeper Marko Simeunovic from a Flo pass.
"In the first half not everybody took his responsibility defensively," the Rangers manager, Dick Advocaat, said.
Rangers (4-4-2): Klos; Ricksen, Moore, Konterman, Vidmar; Hughes, Ferguson, Nerlinger (McCann, 38), Latapy (Wilson, 53); Flo, Caniggia (Dodds, 74). Substitutes not used: Mols (gk), Kanchelskis, Christiansen, Miller.
NK Maribor (5-3-2): Simeunovic (Murko, 74); Filekovic, Duro, Krizan, Vuksanovic, Snofl; Seslar, Znurderl, Balajic; Kvas (Golob, 61), Starcevic (Ihtijarevic, 78). Substitutes not used: Dvorsak, Pitamic, Plosnik, Sarkezi.
Referee: J Monteiro (Portugal).
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