RC Strasbourg.........................2

Rangers....................................1

Rangers suffered another European defeat in the Stade de la Meineu in Strasbourg last night in an extraordinary game, which threw up three penalty goals and saw the Strasbourg striker, local hero Pascal Nouma, red-carded in the 79th minute after kicking Gordan Petric in the face.

Three times the Italian referee awarded penalties - and three times the spot kicks brought goals with Rangers eventually finishing the losers.

The first arrived a minute before half-time, when Joachim Bjorklund was forced to bring down the French captain Gerald Baticle after a muddle at the edge of the penalty box had allowed Strasbourg one of the few clear-cut openings they had managed until then.

It was another of those lapses of concentration which manager Walter Smith had warned of and Rangers paid the price when Baticle picked himself up and scored the opening goal.

Three minutes into the second half the second penalty came.

This time Brian Laudrup was sent crashing in the box as he collected a through pass from Jorg Albertz. The German took the kick and blasted an unstoppable shot beyond Alexandre Vencel to equalise.

However, the Ibrox men were not allowed too much time to settle into that position for, in 60 minutes, Baticle went down once more. This time the challenge had come from Albertz and, despite Rangers' protests, the referee was adamant, and again the French captain struck the ball past Theo Snelders into the net.

Then came the Nouma ordering off and a last minute header from Gordon Durie which was cleared from the line.

Now Rangers, knocked out of the Champions League, have the chance to march on in the UEFA cup. The away goal was important and, in two weeks' time in the Ibrox return, some of their injured stars, missing last night, will surely be back.

If that is the case then Rangers, with a packed Ibrox, will be too strong for the French team - who lifted themselves last night to challenge the buying power of the Scottish champions and their multinational side.

As expected Rangers went into the game without goalkeeper Andy Goram, Stale Stensaas, Craig Moore, Jonas Thern and also without Ian Ferguson, who had failed a fitness test earlier in the day.

Manager Walter Smith elected to leave Marco Negri on the bench and paired Gordon Durie with Brian Laudrup up front.

Clearly he hoped that the pace of these two would trouble the French defence and in the second minute it seemed he might be right, as the Dane went clear down the left and Durie thrust through the middle.

But as Laudrup made ready to cross, Durie was taken out of the game by a French defender five yards short of the penalty box. Paul Gascoigne took the free kick, which was blocked by the wall for a corner.

After 11 minutes, Frederic Arpinon went off after complaining of injury and was replaced by Raphael Miceli.

It was 16 minutes before Theo Snelders was called into action when he easily held a cross from Gerald Baticle.

Rangers continued to threaten through Laudrup's runs but no-one ever seemed to be able to get on the end of his crosses.

In 25 minutes Stuart McCall, starting a match for the first time in almost a year, was booked for a late challenge on Dennis Conteh. Then, 11 minutes later Jorg Albertz was booked for a rash tackle on substitute Christophe Kinet who had replaced Collet moments earlier. Three minutes more Rino Gattuso was the third Ibrox player cautioned for a wild tackle of Miceli.

However, despite the bookings, Rangers seemed comfortable, and the French side were rarely able to penetrate beyond the 18 yard line.

With just a minute to go until half-time that familiar fatal slackness appeared in the Rangers defence when Bjorklund was left on his own to challenge the Strasbourg captain. He sent him down, a penalty was awarded, Bjorklund was booked and Baticle struck low to Snelders' right. The Dutchman guessed correctly but could not reach the ball.

Charlie Miller replaced Gattuso at the beginning of the second half. Within three minutes Rangers had equalised from a penalty.

Albertz made the pass forward and Laudrup was brought down by Philippe Raschke. Once more the referee pointed to the spot and Albertz came forward to blast a shot past Alexandre Vencel to level the scores and to give Rangers an important away goal.

Rangers persisted in giving up possession too easily. The French goal in the sixtieth minute was the third penalty of the game. With 20 minutes left Tony Vidmar went off and Erik Bo Andersen came on.

But their efforts were still hampered by carelessness in midfield where Paul Gascoigne found it difficult to impose himself and Stuart McCall showed obvious rustiness.

Eleven minutes from the end the game took another twist. The referee showed the red card to Strasbourg striker Pascal Nouma after he had kicked Gordan Petric in the face. Nouma is disqualified from the return leg.

But, try as they might, Rangers still found it difficult to find a way through, even against the depleted French team.

They did, however, come close in the final minutes when Durie reached a corner from Gascoigne, powered in a header, and saw it cleared from the goal line by Czech defender Jan Suchoparek. Teams:

Strasbourg: Vencel, Raschke, Suchoparek, Okpara, Collet, Arpinon, Baticle, Conteh, M'Ghoghi, Dacourt, Nouma. Substitutes - Rott, Miceli, Klein, Kinet, Rabbah, Vogel, Keller.

Rangers: Snelders, Porrini, Petric, Bjorklund, Vidmar, Gattuso, McCall, Gascoigne, Albertz, Durie, Laudrup. Substitutes - Negri, Miller, Brown, McCoist, Johannson, Andersson.

Referee: M Trentalange (Italy).