Edu's Rangers suffers potentially costly loss

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Jul 26, 2011

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Maurice Edu's Rangers continues to struggle under new manager Ally McCoist. After failing to beat Hearts at home in its Scottish Premier League opener, Rangers has dug itself a big hole in Europe, dropping a 1-0 decision to Malmo of Sweden in the first leg of their third qualifying round series in the Champions League.

Edu started for Rangers, which fell on an early goal by Brazilian Wilton Figueiredo on a header.

"We were, again, very disappointing in the first half, that's two games now, both home games," McCoist told BBC Scotland. "Also, the standard of goal we're losing is not nearly good enough. A free header on Saturday [David Obua for Hearts in its 1-1 tie] and the goal we lost tonight, although it was a good strike, we should not be losing goals like that."

McCoist insisted that Rangers can still recover for next week's second leg.

Qualification for the Champions League -- and the money that comes with it -- is essential for Rangers, which is rebuilding under new owner Craig Whyte, who has injected new money into the ailing club.