Van Bronckhorst slams 'sloppy' Rangers after Union Saint-Gilloise loss

Giovanni van Bronckhorst slammed his 'sloppy' Rangers players for a shock defeat to Union Saint-Gilloise — and warned them a huge improvement is needed in the second leg if they are to avoid crashing out of the Champions League.

The Belgian side triumphed easily over last season's Europa League runners-up with goals in either half from Teddy Teuma and a controversial Dante Vanzeir penalty.

The spot-kick for a handball by Connor Goldson was awarded after a VAR check and was extremely harsh on the Ibrox defender who also received a booking.

But Van Bronckhorst admitted his listless side were lucky to escape with a two-goal deficit and knows they need to be much better if they are to turn the tie around at home next Tuesday.

The Rangers boss said: 'I am very disappointed. There is so much at stake this month as we try to qualify for the Champions League and this performance was below par.

'We were sloppy, we lost too many balls, we lost duels and slowly Union became better and better.

'We didn't react well after (the opening goal) and were never really in the game.

'We made a lot of mistakes and we are a little bit lucky it's only 2-0, although I was surprised the referee gave a penalty.

'We are still in the tie. We are capable of making up the 2-0 difference at Ibrox on Tuesday but we need to concentrate on our performance. If we have the same performance like we had today, we have no chance next week.'

The ball was deflected off Goldson's hand from close range, with the defender knowing little about it.

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