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Villarreal edge past Rangers into last eight
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-03-08 08:50
Villarreal, who are appearing in the Champions League for the first time,
were put on the back foot in the opening exchanges as Rangers began with real
aggression.
After seven minutes striker Thomas Buffel rifled in a 12 metre shot after
Lovenkrands knocked on a Chris Burke pass but Sebastian Viera made a fine save.
Five minutes later they did go ahead. Viera came out to deal with a through
pass under pressure from Rangers skipper Barry Ferguson and the ball broke to
Lovenkrands who calmly picked his spot to score.
Rangers defended solidly and looked capable of further goals, but they almost
came unstuck just before the break when Forlan raced through on goal but
Rangers' Dutch keeper Ronald Waterreus rescued his side with a block.
Villarreal, with Argentine playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme pulling the strings,
started the second half brightly and the equaliser was not long in coming.
Riquelme sent Forlan away down the right and the Uruguayan's pull back was
completely missed by Guillermo Franco but it ran on to Arruabarrena who made no
mistake.
Franco then headed straight at Waterreus after 68 minutes before Rangers
passed up their best chance to win the tie.
Substitute Kris Boyd moved in towards the near post for a low ball from Burke
only to touch it across the face of goal from a few metres out.
Rangers Fans Arrested
Spanish police arrested eight Britons in the seaside resort of Benidorm after
violence flared ahead of Tuesday's Champions League second-leg match between
Villareal and Rangers, local media reported.
Police were not immediately available to comment.
Reports said groups of Scottish fans hurled stones, bottles and glass at
police.
In a separate incident, one of the windows in the Villarreal team bus was
broken as supporters threw bottles and shouted insults as the Spanish team
approached the Madrigal stadium.
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