Rangers v Genk: Oh scores as Ibrox side start Europa League with defeat

Rangers have begun their Europa League campaign with a defeat after losing 1-0 to Genk at Ibrox.

The home side had Mohamed Diomande sent off before former Celtic striker Oh Hyeon-Gyu scored the only goal of the game as Rangers struggled against their Belgian opponents and under-pressure head coach Russell Martin suffered another setback.

Martin had hoped that the victory over Hibernian in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final would prove to be a turning point, with only three victories in 13 games. But instead of another win to build momentum, Rangers were to suffer another grim defeat.

Martin made just one change, opting to bring in £8m summer signing Youssef Chermiti for Bojan Miovski.

Genk travelled to Glasgow with their own problems, having endured a tough start to the domestic season, but instead of encountering the raucous atmosphere that has marked European nights in recent years, there stadium was far from full and without a sense of excitement.

The Belgian side enjoyed the best of the early exchanges and could have been ahead before the major incident that turned the game just before half-time. Diomande lunged into a tackle on Zakaria El Ouahdi and was shown a straight red card.

Genk, and Oh in particular, passed up opportunities to score but had their best when James Tavernier caught Yaimar Medina in the box and a penalty was awarded. Jack Butland saved Oh’s penalty but the striker was not to be denied.

In the 56th minute, a ball through the middle split the Rangers defence and Oh collected, ran on and hit a crisp finish past Butland and into the net.

Genk had further chances to score but couldn’t make the most of their advantage. Though Rangers pushed late on, and substitute Connor Barron forced a save with a powerful drive, the visitors held on to take three points and pile the pressure back on Martin.