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Socceroo makes ‘strong case’ in Europa League upset as Scottish giants ‘beat themselves’

· Jake Rosengarten · 2026-08-07 · nguồn gốc

Devlin’s Rangers stunned by Polish side Socceroos midfielder Cammy Devlin came on as a half-time substitute as Rangers were beaten 2-1 by Polish side Jagiellonia Białystok in the first leg of their third round Europa League qualifying tie. The Scottish giants took the lead thanks to a Guilherme Montoia own-goal in the fourth minute, but ultimately went down as Kajetan Szmyt scored twice in eight first-half minutes. Rangers boss Derek Mcinnes said ‘it felt like we beat ourselves’. “I thought we started the game really well with an element of control. The team we picked was to make sure that their rotations in midfield weren’t a problem for us – and they weren’t,” he explained. “I thought our three were fine in there at times. ”We got off to a good start… then we stopped doing what was working for us. We made two mistakes for the two goals. I’m not going to watch us all season lose the ball on the edge of their box and it ends up in a chance for the opposition. “We need to be far more concentrated, far more focused, far more aggressive, far more talkative and organised to stop these types of things happening. We’ve seen a lot tonight of what I thought Rangers were last season. I thought they gave up too many chances and gave teams too much encouragement. He added: “Yes, there are some positives. I thought when wee Findlay (Curtis) and Nico (Raskin) and Cammy (Devlin) came on, but we don’t throw the kitchen sink at it because it is a two-legged game. “We feel there’s another big performance in us at Ibrox next Thursday. “But we’ve got to be honest and say we’re giving teams too much encouragement and we’re guilty of beating ourselves tonight. That’s no disrespect to our opponents, because on transitions and counter attacks, it fuels them. They’ve got those pacey wide players and they get up and down the pitch quickly. “Having watched them, I knew it would be a tough game, particularly here at home and they’re a strong side in a strong Polish league, but I still expect us to come here and win the game, and we’re disappointed that we haven’t.” The BBC agreed with McInnes’ assessment, suggesting Devlin was among a trio who impressed off the bench and ‘made strong bids to start the next game at home to Hibs’. Rangers are not out of the Europa League reckoning with this loss and will host Jagiellonia in the second leg of this tie at home next Friday morning AEST. Tilio starts in big Rapid win Marco Tilio may have fallen out of favour with the Socceroos, but he is beginning to pick up more and more minutes with his Austrian side Rapid Wien. After an assist in the last round of Europa Conference League qualifying against Santa Coloma, Tilio started and played 59 minutes in a 4-1 win over Estonian side Paide Linnameeskond as his team took a big step towards progression. Rapid opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the fifth minute, before Daniel Luts equalised for Paide. However, three late goals made it a comfortable win away from home. Tilio completed 24 of his 27 passes and contributed three ball recoveries, but was guilty of missing a big chance as Rapid dominated with 74% possession. “When we have as much possession as we did today, most teams are tired by the end,” Rapid boss Johannes Hoff Thorup said, via Krone. “They didn’t have much of the ball and had to do a lot of running. The first 75 minutes were the reason we had so much space in the final stages. We knew the spaces would open up. “We can rotate the squad right now and bring on fresh legs that will give us another boost. We’ve said we mustn’t be too offensive with too many players, which is perhaps why we didn’t have that many chances in the first half.” The two teams meet again for the second leg in Austria on August 13. Aussie trio feature in Motherwell draw Motherwell head back to Scotland with their UEFA Conference League tie against HJK locked at 1-1 after former Premier League striker Teemu Pukki cancelled out Tawanda Maswanhise’s penalty. Three Australians featured in the match, with Jake Girdwood-Reich and Oscar Priestman each playing 90 minutes, while Johnny Koutroumbis came off the bench for the Steelmen. “I think it was a good performance. I’m very, very proud of the players, said Motherwell boss Alfred Johansson. “The players started to be even more brave in their decision-making [in the second half]. It’s mainly the players who decided to say ‘let’s play’. “They were more aggressive in the press, which allows you to recover more balls higher up the pitch, which makes you feel more confident. “The players turned up the heat a little bit and that was good to see.” The second leg will be played on August 14. Boyle captains Hibs to win Hibernian left it late as a 90th minute winner handed them the advantage in their UEFA Conference League tie against North Macedonian side KF Shkëndija. Socceroo Martin Boyle captained the Scottish outfit and played 59 minutes before being replaced by fellow Aussie Ante Suto as Warren O’Hora’s stoppage time strike proved the difference. “The players showed character to get back in front again. We didn’t play our best but found a way to win the game – we have to take confidence from that,” said Hibs boss David Gray. “I reminded the players about that winning feeling – we won the game. Can we play better and did I want us to play better? Yes and I know we will be. “Winning games of football is difficult, it’s half-time in the tie and the thing that gives me confidence is we can be a lot better than we were tonight.” Gray added: “We wanted to maximise being at home. The second leg will certainly be very different, the atmosphere and temperature will be different. “We wanted to take a lead over there, we are doing that and we will learn from this leg. “They are a good side who are used to being in Europe, you could see that. We know we have to be better and I know we will be better. “We tried to force it too much and made too many errors tonight, turning the ball over too many times. But winning is difficult, especially in Europe. “You could feel the frustration in the stadium and the way we were pegged back, we got pulled into trying to score to make sure we were winning in the tie. The subs were positive when they came on. We need everyone because we’ll have to change things now with Sunday (Rangers away) in mind.” Edinburgh Evening News rated Boyle’s performance a 5.5/10, while Suto received a 5/10.