Rangers’ own goal sparks early hope before Poland defeat

Guilherme Montoia turned Tuur Rommens’ cross into his own net after four minutes, giving the Ibrox men a dream start in the Europa League third‑qualifying round tie in Poland. Derek McInnes watched his side seize an early lead before the match unraveled, as reported by John McGarry, Scottish Chief Sports Feature Writer, published at 21:28 BST on 6 August 2026 and updated at 21:32 BST.

The early advantage was short‑lived; nine minutes later Manny Fernandez stretched out a leg to direct Kajetan Szmyt’s centre past Ivor Pandur, restoring parity for Jagiellonia Bialystok. The visitors then took the lead on 21 minutes when Pandur’s initial save was fired home by Szmyt, putting the Polish side ahead.

Rangers improved after the interval, showing brighter play, yet they could not overturn the deficit and fell to defeat, leaving them with everything to do in next Thursday’s return at Ibrox. McInnes lamented his side’s self‑destruction, saying, “I just felt we beat ourselves, to be honest,” and criticised the loss of the early control they had shown.

He added that the team started well with patient combination play and pressure on the opponent’s defender, but “we stopped doing what was working for us. We made two mistakes for the two goals.” The manager called for far more concentration, aggression, talk‑ativeness and organisation to prevent such lapses.

McInnes noted the performance reminded him of issues he saw while managing Hearts last season, stressing that the squad must become more focused and stop giving opponents too many chances. He also highlighted that he handed Daisuke Yokota his debut after the winger’s move from Hannover, and that he has signed nine players since succeeding Danny Rohl.

Looking ahead, Rangers will welcome Hibs to Ibrox on Sunday, seeking their first win of the season after a loss away to Dundee United and having conceded two goals across their opening two league games. Defender Ross McCrorie admitted the new‑look squad must address defensive frailties, saying, “We never quite got the defence right… we need to be better as a whole.”