Rangers’ Glen Kamara booed by 10,000 schoolchildren after racism ban for Sparta Prague fans

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The Finnish midfielder, who served a three-game suspension following an alleged assault on Kudela in the Ibrox tunnel, was cautioned just before half-time for a tackle. He was severely penalized in the 74th minute when Turkish referee Ali Palabiyik ruled his arm had been dangerously raised during an aerial challenge.

Rangers were already struggling to get back into the game and the 10 men couldn’t avoid a second defeat in two Group A games.

However, Steven Gerrard appeared more concerned with Kamara’s treatment when he was told of the taunts rather than the outcome, and called on officials to crack down on racism in football.

“If it is facts and it is the truth, then I am extremely disappointed, but not surprised… We need the facts, we need confirmation if it is the truth before commenting”, a Gerrard said.

He added that more needs to be done to prevent spectators from targeting players.

“Not just myself, everyone across the world is calling for more, heavier, better and more extreme punishments in terms of racism. It must be eradicated,” Gerrard said.

“But until the powers that be do more and take this more seriously, until that happens, we’re going to be dealing with these issues longer.”

Gerrard’s side received an early warning when Allan McGregor made an excellent one-handed save from Jakub Pesek.

The visitors had a decent lot with the pace and skill of Fashion Sakala causing problems in Sparta. Joe Aribo saw a header clear from the mouth of the goal and Leon Balogun shot a header from 10 yards.

McGregor came to his side’s rescue again when he saved Martin Minchev after James Tavernier’s temperamental pass put the Rangers on the back foot.

Hancko scored in the 29th minute after edging out scorer Calvin Bassey, who was playing in central defense in Connor Goldson’s absence. The defender glanced at the far post with technology on the goal line alerting the referee of the goal after McGregor retrieved the ball from behind the line.

Rangers suffered another blow when Juninho Bacuna was injured in the 38th minute, although they had Ianis Hagi to enter.

The visiting defense was routed in the first 10 minutes of the second half, leaving their opponents behind three times. McGregor made a save and was released when Pesek hit the bar with an open goal.

Sakala had the ball in the net between chances at home, but it was clearly offside as he bounced off the rebound from Balogun’s saved header.

The Rangers struggled to create clear opportunities for themselves and Kamara’s red card reduced their chances even further. They came under late pressure but Sakala once again swerved from the offside of their most promising opening.

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