By Craig Rae
Rangers ended their poor Champions League campaign with a disappointing 3-1 defeat to Ajax at Ibrox.
The Dutch side eased past Rangers 4-0 in the opening group game and in truth the score line tonight could have been similar had they wanted it to be.
The manager made 3 changes from the side that won 4-1 against Aberdeen with Scott Arfield, Steven Davis and Borna Barisic coming in for Ben Davies, John Lundstram and Ridvan Yilmaz.
Rangers started brightly but it was Ajax that took the lead in the fourth minute through Berghuis after James Tavernier was caught out and a slip up between Allan McGregor and Leon King allow the Dutchman to tap in from close range.
The Light Blues were looking dangerous from the left-hand side and Sakala nearly headed in an equaliser after a cross from Kent, but his effort was cleared off the line by former defender Calvin Bassey who was making his Ibrox return.
The Dutchmen however doubled their leads when Mohamed Kudus scored at the Copland Road, adding to the goal he scored in the Amsterdam Arena.
Rangers offered little going forward as the first half ended 2-0 to the visitors after Ajax nearly trebled their lead through Tadic on the stroke of half time, with a big performance required in the second period from Rangers.
The Ghanian International almost had his second in the 56th minute after poor defending from Tavernier allowed Rensch to cross the ball to the attacker to coolly finish past McGregor, but he was flagged for offside.
Rangers tried to get back into the game by making three changes with Davis, Tillman and Colak making way for Kamara, Wright, and Morelos respectively.
James Tavernier had the first shot on target in the 67th minute as his free kick was easily saved by Pasveer.
Scott Arfield then had an audacious effort from outside the box finely saved by the Ajax keeper to put it out for a corner, with Rangers appearing to want to give the fans something to cheer about.
The former Canadian International then made way for Alex Lowry who was making his long-awaited return from injury as he and Rabbi Matondo came on.
Alfredo Morelos missed an absolute sitter to give Rangers a consolation goal, but a penalty was awarded soon after when Rabbi Matondo was brought down after good work down the left-hand side which captain James Tavernier duly dispatched.
Ajax however soon found their third after Francisco Conceicao was put through on goal and slotted easily past McGregor.
A disappointing group has come to an end and severe lessons will need to be learned to go into next season’s European campaign.
Up next is St Johnstone away on Sunday.
Rangers: McGregor, Tavernier, King, Sands, Barisic, Davis (Kamara), Tillman (Wright), Arfield (Lowry), Kent (Matondo), Sakala, Colak (Morelos)
Ajax: Pasveer, Sanchez, Timber, Bassey, Winjdal, Berghuis, Alvarez, Taylor, Berjgwin, Kudus, Tadic
Attendance: 48,817
