Lovenkrands seals Rangers' stunning revival

Rangers 2 VfB Stuttgart 1

Rangers opened their Champions' League Group E campaign with a crucial victory at Ibrox last night, as Peter Lovenkrands sealed a remarkable comeback for Alex McLeish's team.

The Dane, brought on by his manager at half-time to inspire a jaded Rangers side, struck a spectacular 79th-minute winner, just five minutes after Christian Nerlinger had levelled a game that had previously looked well out of reach. Kevin Kuranyi's first-half stoppage-time goal had seemed enough for a side that had not conceded a goal in five Bundesliga games, but Ibrox revelled in the revival that had come out of the blue.

Rangers went about their task with relish, backed by a vociferous Ibrox crowd, but Stuttgart quickly showed their credentials as Germany's most exciting young side with Horst Heldt and Alexander Hleb cutting a swathe through the home defence, the first being stopped by the excellence of Stefan Klos and the latter by Henning Berg.

However, Rangers came far closer to breaking the deadlock with two chances of their own after 24 minutes. Paolo Vanoli ought to have scored with his diving header from Mikel Arteta's deft free-kick, but the Italian was too direct and that allowed Timo Hildenbrand to paw the effort for a corner.

Seconds later, Emerson picked out Shota Arveladze with a clever pass. The striker controlled the ball and tried to clip it over Hildebrand, but the goalkeeper got the vital touch that lifted the ball over the crossbar.

However, Rangers' plans were badly affected when Fernando Ricksen was taken off with a bad head injury eight minutes later, following a clash of heads with Berg as they went for the same ball.

Ibrox, though, was plunged into an eerie silence just seconds before the interval when Kevin Kuranyi put Stuttgart ahead. The towering German striker pounced when Marcelo Bordon's 30-yard free-kick crashed off the post, clipping the rebound past the furious Klos.

The one-way traffic towards Klos continued in the second half, and Kuranyi almost beat the keeper again with a curling right-foot shot from the edge of the box in the 55th minute.

It was not until after the hour that Rangers fashioned a chance of their own, as Michael Ball picked out Shota Arveladze in the box but the striker's overhead shot was saved by Hildebrand.

Ball then fired another free-kick wide, whereupon Stuttgart stepped their pursuit of an equaliser up a gear. It was rewarded in the 73rd minute when Nerlinger levelled the match amid a scramble. Bordon failed to clear a ball into the box by thumping it against his partner, Fernando Meira, and Nerlinger pounced to drill in his shot.

Rangers (4-4-2): Klos; Ricksen (Ross, 33), Berg, Khizanishvili, Ball; Emerson (Capucho, 63), Arteta, Nerlinger, Vanoli (Lovenkrands, 46); Arveladze, Mols. Substitutes not used: McGregor (gk), Ostenstad, Malcolm, Hughes.

VfB Stuttgart (4-4-2): Hildebrand; Hinkel, Bordon, Meira, Gerber (Szabics, 80); Tiffert, Hleb, Heldt (Meissener, 70), Cacau (Amanatidis, 46); Soldo, Kuranyi. Substitutes not used: D Heinen (gk), Wenzel, Vranjes, Lahm.

Referee: G Veissiere (France).