RANGERS' hopes of reaching the last 16 of the Champions League suffered a shattering late blow in Bucharest last night when an 88th-minute equaliser from Marius Onofras denied them the victory which would have genuinely re-ignited their campaign.
Lee McCulloch had given Rangers the lead 11 minutes from time and Walter Smith's men appeared on course to redeem themselves for the 4-1 home defeat they suffered at the hands of Unirea Urziceni a fortnight before.
But, on an evening when 1
7-year-old Danny Wilson shone on his European debut and goalkeeper Allan McGregor defied Dan Petrescu's side with a string of fine saves, Rangers finished the game where they started it, at the bottom of Group G.
They remain in the qualification equation, with victory at home to VfB Stuttgart later this month essential. But, while a point apiece was a fair outcome last night, the finale to the match was no easier for Rangers to take. Their evening was also soured by an outbreak of crowd trouble among some of their 2,000 travelling supporters during the interval.
The rain which had teemed relentlessly on the Romanian capital throughout the day had eased to a miserable drizzle by kick-off at 9.45pm local time. Earlier rumours of a pitch inspection proved unfounded, the surface at the Steaua Stadium slick but certainly playable.
Faced with 90 minutes which would decree whether his team retained an interest in making progress to the last 16 of the competition, Smith decided a tweak to his favoured European formation was in order.
With Wilson retaining his place alongside David Weir in central defence, McCulloch and Kevin Thomson were deployed as holding midfielders. Ahead of them, the trio of Steven Naismith, Steven Davis and Kyle Lafferty were charged with the task of providing attack-minded support for lone striker Kenny Miller.
As they had in Glasgow, the Romanian champions carried particular menace down the flanks. Sasa Papac, normally ultra reliable in the left-back position for Rangers, appeared especially vulnerable in the initial exchanges.
Rangers were generally tidy and fluent in possession, a quality which dismally eluded them two weeks earlier, showing patience and composure in their efforts to engineer an opening. Unirea goalkeeper Giedrius Arlauskis was forced into his first save of the evening by Thomson's free-kick, the ball troubling the Lithuanian as it skidded off the surface in front of him, bouncing off his chest before he scrambled it clear.
Arlauskis had far less difficulty keeping out Naismith's header from a Steven Whittaker cross, the ball lacking the pace required to beat the goalkeeper low at his right-hand post.
As he did at Ibrox, Petrescu's response to his unhappiness with his team's start to the match was to make an early substitution, sending on Marius Onofras for Balan. As he did so, Lafferty was booked for a rash foul on Serban Varga, conceding a free-kick in a dangerous position. Vasile Maftei drilled the ball through Rangers' defensive wall, McGregor seeing it late but diving to his left to make a good save.
Miller, as always giving everything to his solitary role up front, carved open the Unirea defence with a terrific run through the middle, taking the ball beyond Maftei and George Galamaz before driving in a low shot which Arlauskis held low to his right.
McGregor bettered his earlier stop when Sorin Frunza collected a pass from Varga and engineered a shooting position some 14 yards out. His well-struck shot took a deflection off Wilson, making the Rangers goalkeeper's leaping one-handed save to his left all the more impressive.
Substitute Onofras attempted to catch McGregor off his line with an ambitious effort from all of 40 yards out, the ball dropping narrowly over the crossbar as the keeper scrambled back.
The match was delicately balanced and Rangers almost snatched the lead two minutes before the interval. McCulloch and Miller combined neatly to set up the chance for Lafferty, who was unfortunate to see his right-foot curling shot from the edge of the penalty area drift narrowly wide of the beaten Arlauskis' left-hand post.
During the interval, trouble flared among the Rangers supporters located behind one of the goals. As stewards attempted to remove one of their number, several others responded violently. Seats were ripped up and thrown at the stewards. After several minutes, order was restored. Before the second half began, a PA announcement warned that the match would be suspended by Uefa if further trouble ensued.
When the action did resume, there was a noticeable increase in tempo by Unirea. Rangers were on the back foot for sustained periods, Weir making a crucial intervention to deny Frunza a clear scoring opportunity, his young apprentice Wilson completing the clearance.
Rangers gradually regained a foothold in the contest and should have gone ahead in the 62nd minute. Following some intricate build-up play, Davis threaded a terrific through ball into the path of Miller, who had only Arlauskis to beat from around eight yards. The Scotland striker's effort lacked both conviction and precision, however, allowing the 'keeper to make a routine save.
There was nothing routine about McGregor's stop eight minutes later as he showed great alertness and athleticism to dive to his right and keep out Onofras' flicked header from Frunza's cross.
It was Arlauskis whose resistance was finally broken and his reaction to being beaten by McCulloch's 22-yard shot told its own story. It had been a terrific build-up by Rangers to create the opportunity, Naismith and Lafferty combining well, but, despite a bounce off the wet surface, Arlauskis should have held McCulloch's right-foot shot.
Unirea almost equalised immediately, Wilson making a dramatic clearance under his own crossbar after Onofras had beaten McGregor from a tight angle. But McGregor was left helpless with two minutes left when Onofras smashed a fabulous right-foot shot beyond him into the roof of the net from around 22 yards. It was a half chance that only came about after Nacho Novo squandered possession by attempting a cross-field pass at a time when the Rangers substitute should have been running the ball into the corner.
Unirea Urziceni: Arlauskis, Bordeanu, Galamaz, Maftei, Brandan; Balan (Onofras 28), Vilana (Paduretu 82), Apostol, Frunza, Bilasco, Varga (Semedo 82). Subs not used: Tudor, Mehmedovic, Paraschiv, Nicu.
Rangers: McGregor, Whittaker, Weir, Wilson, Papac; McCulloch, Thomson (Fleck 85); Naismith, Davis, Lafferty; Miller (Novo 82). Subs not used: Alexander, Boyd, Rothen, Beasley, Smith.
