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Rangers out of Europe Striker Bonaventure Kalou has scored twice to send AJ Auxerre through to the first knockout round of the UEFA Cup at the expense of Rangers. The stylish French side's 2-0 win at Ibrox in their final Group F clash on Wednesday put them into the last 32 and eliminated the Scottish side after Austria's Graz AK did enough to seal their passage with a 2-0 home victory over group winners AZ Alkmaar. Rangers had won their first two games and even after a defeat by Alkmaar needed only a point against Auxerre to progress, but their hopes were dashed by the Ivory Coast striker scoring early in both halves. Middlesbrough, AZ Alkmaar, VfB Stuttgart and Lille went through as group winners and will avoid one of the eight sides dropping down from the Champions League in Friday's draw. Three teams from each of the eight five-team groups progress to the knockout rounds. Auxerre made the perfect start on a mild night in Glasgow when Kalou scored at the second attempt after his initial effort from Benjani's chip had hit the crossbar after nine minutes. Croat Dado Prso wasted several chances to haul Rangers level before Kalou put the game beyond Rangers soon after the restart when he stepped around French international centre-back Jean-Alain Boumsong and scored with ease. SCOTTISH GLOOM Rangers' elimination means Scotland's top two sides will not be involved in any European competition in the second half of the season with Celtic already out of the Champions League. "We are very disappointed. We never gave ourselves a chance," said Rangers manager Alex McLeish. "We did not create the chances in the second half that we did in the first and we had a mountain to climb. It's hard to take any positives from tonight." Germany's VfB Stuttgart and Heerenveen from the Netherlands grabbed the final two spots from Group G. Stuttgart, third in the Bundesliga, edged to a nervy 2-1 win at home against Dinamo Zagreb to leapfrog Benfica at the top. Christian Tiffert did well to control a through ball from Kevin Kuranyi and clip a shot across keeper Vladimir Vasilj for the opener after 15 minutes. The visitors hit back in the 66th minute when Ivan Bosnjak stole in to convert Ante Tomic's free kick but Fernando Meira's 75th minute strike clinched victory. Defeat ended Zagreb's interest in the competition as Heerenveen got the win they needed with a 1-0 success over Beveren, reduced to 10 men after 40 minutes when Sekou Quattara was sent off. Arnold Bruggink netted in the first half. AACHEN ADVANCE Alemannia Aachen, fourth in the German second division, grabbed the remaining qualifying place in Group H at the expense of Zenit St Petersburg who were not playing. Aaachen needed a win in Greece against pointless AEK Athens to overhaul the Russians and got it with goals from Dutch striker Erik Meijer and substitute Daniel Gomez. Lille went through as Group H winners after defeating Spanish side Sevilla 1-0 with a late goal from Matt Moussilou. Both sides had already qualified for the knockout stages but Lille finished with 10 men after the stoppage-time dismissal of Rafael Schmitz. Middlesbrough kept their European bandwagon rolling by sealing top spot in Group E. The Premier League side, in their debut season in Europe, coasted to a 3-0 victory over Partizan Belgrade at the Riverside with first-half goals from Szilard Nemeth and Joseph Desire-Job and a late effort from James Morrison. Partizan, who travelled with their passage already assured, finish third in the group. Last season's semi-finalists Villarreal took the runners-up spot, ending their programme by demolishing Greek side Egaleo 4-0. Seven qualifying places remain up for grabs in the final round of matches in Groups A-D on Thursday. The UEFA Cup final is in Lisbon on May 18. |
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