Hurt and Hope for Clement as Rangers Battle Through Adversity

The introductions had been prepared, and the praise was applied thickly with a trowel. Rangers had returned from the dead.

They overcame injuries, brought on two teenagers, and handed a goal to Manchester United, yet they still fought, believed, and scored.

Cyriel Dessers is manufactured from Teflon. He needs to be.

The amount of criticism the big guy has had during his time with the Rangers, the insults, and the fact that he felt his fans had cast him off before he even unpacked his things at his new home.

But Dessers leveled the score at Old Trafford minutes before the conclusion.

A ball over the top. The first contact on his right foot killed it—a turn. A second touch with his left foot found the back of the United net. Harry Maguire is humiliated. The home support team became outraged. Rangers are in raptures.

In these conditions, a point would have felt like a victory, yet there was neither a point nor a win.

Instead, Rangers paused at the back. Bruno Fernandes was rescuing his teammates. Every Rangers player had a look of pain on their face.

So close to a good outcome, but so far.

At the very least, Uefa confirmed that the Ibrox side had done enough to secure a spot in the knockout phase before their final group encounter against Union Saint-Gilloise of Belgium next Thursday.

Makeshift Rangers Silence Old Trafford

Rangers had faced an uphill battle but remained devoted to it with unwavering determination, even as United threatened to overwhelm them.

As the Rangers players came off the pitch at the end of a goalless first half full of encouragement, Philippe Clement approached his hobbling center-back, Leon Balogun, for an update. It was not excellent.

Balogun never emerged, and Rangers, who had been quite comfortable up to that point, were suddenly faced with a completely different problem.

James Tavernier switched from right back to right center back. Ridvan Yilmaz, who played on the left side of midfield, was switched to right back. Clement shuffled, possibly praying.

Bailey Rice, then 18, made an appearance. Rice's first-team appearances have totaled ten minutes against Nice, 28 against Fraserburgh, 12 against Motherwell, and one against St Mirren.

It was the Europa League, with Christian Eriksen and Fernandes as direct opponents. There aren't many hotter baptisms than this.

Rice could have used more time to settle down and make his way on the pitch with the game tied 0-0.

He and his excellent teammates desperately needed Jack Butland to knock Eriksen's corner into his net early in the second half.

If it had been a class moment that undid them, it might not have stung as much. A Fernandes rocket, some trickery from Amad Diallo, and an example of quality from Alejandro Garnacho. Instead, it was a gift.

Old Trafford had been relatively quiet till then. Rangers' attention was high, and their intensity was comparable to when they faced Tottenham.

United had chances, including a goal that was bizarrely disallowed for a foul that few people witnessed, but so did Rangers.

Nico Raskin, Yilmaz, and Hamza Igamane reminded their hosts that, while they had the majority of possession, there was still a beating heart at the other end. They would discover later how hard it was beating.

Clement would have been pleased at halftime.

No Points, But Plenty to Build On

Old Trafford looked the part, with tributes to the iconic Denis Law and banners celebrating the talent of another great Scot, Sir Alex Ferguson.

But it didn't sound like that. There was no aura, clamor from the home crowd, or intimidating element.

"Glory and honor," "One Love Stretford End," "Manchester Is My Heaven." The noble motifs adorned the stands, but no grandeur, honor, or love existed.

Not until Butland hit one into his net.

Suddenly, the volume was raised. United suddenly looked convincing in their build-up play, if wasteful when the opportunities were.

There were a few nice ones, but no second goal until the last seconds.

Butland saved, his defenders blocked, and Rangers made sure their night didn't end poorly.

Findlay Curtis, an 18-year-old, entered the fray. They will debut against Fraserburgh on Sunday, followed by their Europa League debut on Thursday. Rice and Curtis must have felt like children on Christmas.

Much has been written about the Old Firm's incapacity to develop young players, but Clement now has some decent responses to that criticism. Rice and Curtis were there because others had been injured, but they were there nonetheless.

Clement has a youthful collection of players and is frantically attempting to gain time to form them into a cohesive unit. Patience, of course, is as rare as the dodo bird along the Govan Road.

Late in the game, Rice sent a stunning pass to Dessers, who was one-on-one with Altay Bayindir in the United goal.

He lifted it over him and saw it fall from a post. He was most likely offside, but this did not reduce the ire of the home crowd. They responded furiously, splitting their ears.

We had no idea Dessers would return and score like the greatest Rangers strikers. Seventeen for the season. More than 20 last season.

That's good shooting for the dud you've heard some Rangers fans talk about.

Fernandes made the final decision, and Rangers fans will be upset. The goal may have been avoided for the entire class of finishers.

That will hurt, but there will also be hope for Clement. His guys battled fiercely against adversity. He noticed the character out there. There are no points, but it is something to work on.