Ianis Hagi called out on BBC Sportsound in Rangers loss v Athletic Bilbao
Rangers fell to an unlucky defeat as they bowed out of Europe against Athletic Bilbao at San Mames in controversial circumstances.
Cyriel Dessers was denied a penalty after a shirt pull in the box from Athletic Club defender Dani Vivian, and the home side were eventually awarded one themselves, which Oihan Sancet converted.
Rangers pushed but could not break down their stubborn defence, falling to a 2-0 defeat, in what ended up a dominant victory for the Basque side.
Ianis Hagi was withdrawn at half time during the game, and the Romanian has now been slammed for what he did just before, with the scores level.
Hagi criticised in Rangers defeat
In the minutes before John Souttar gave away a penalty at the end of the first half, Rangers had a good opportunity to push forward.
Hagi was given a free kick and had the opportunity to launch the ball forward into the box. However, he rushed and played it diagonally to Vaclav Cerny, and Rangers lost possession.
| Stat | Ianis Hagi |
| Appearances | 31 |
| Goals | 5 |
| Assists | 7 |
Speaking live on BBC Sportsound (8:45 pm, 17 April), Steven Naismith slammed Hagi for his lack of ambition when it came to getting the ball forward.
“I cannot believe what has just happened there,” he said.
“Hagi has taken a quick free-kick diagonal to Cerny, and they’ve given up possession with a minute to go, why are they not sending everyone up and putting a ball into the box?”
Rangers falter in attack v Athletic Bilbao
Rangers came up against a stubborn Athletic Bilbao defence, and despite defending well for a lot of the tie, they could hardly lay a glove on the Basque side.
Aside from the Rangers’ denied penalty, Nicolas Raskin did hit the post with an unlucky close-range miss, but the Gers managed just two shots on target at San Mames.
Most of this was down to the dominance of the home side, but there were clearly times where Rangers could have shown more attacking impetus, and Hagi has now been singled out for his role in this failing.
Rangers now have little to play for in the rest of the campaign and will hope to revamp their attacking options in the summer transfer window.
Big changes are coming, and no one appears to be safe just yet at Ibrox.