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Glasgow Live
Glasgow Live
Sport
Alan Galindo

Giovanni van Bronckhorst on Rangers' performance and James Sands' dismissal in Napoli Ibrox defeat

Giovanni van Bronckhorst admits he was happy with Rangers' performance against Napoli and the score didn't reflect the game.

The Light Blues lost out 3-0 in the end as the Serie A side took control at the top of the section with two wins from two leaving the Ibrox men searching for their first points in the Champions League group stage with a Battle of Britain double-header to come next against Liverpool after the international break.

The performance was night and day from the defeats to Celtic and Ajax with the home side starting fast and creating a number of chances including a golden opportunity for Alfredo Morelos inside the opening 30 seconds. But it wasn't to be with James Sands' dismissal proving costly. Allan McGregor was also in stunning form despite the result making a number of big saves and denying the visitors twice from the penalty spot - with the first retaken after a VAR check.

READ MORE: Rangers fans pay tribute to Queen with Ibrox tifo display ahead of Napoli Champions League clash

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Speaking to BT Sport after the game, the Dutchman said: "I think the performance was really good. The result wasn't good. I don't think we deserved a 3-0 loss today. If you see how the game goes and how my players reacted after last week I think we were well in the game from the first minute.

"The 3-0 doesn't reflect the game we had. When you play with ten men it is going to be really difficult, especially when 1-0 down, we needed to score and take some risks but very disappointed because 11 vs 11 we gave Napoli a tough game and we were well in it."

On the Sands sending off, he added: "I haven't seen it clearly back but now they check everything. We have to rely on VAR. It was a moment in the game we didn't react well with the transition moment. We had to step in and make sure we didn't give the chance away. In the end it costs us a penalty and a red card."

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