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Interim boss Steven Davis insists he retains confidence in the Rangers squad as he called for unity following the 2-1 Europa League defeat by Aris Limassol in Cyprus. The former Light Blues midfielder was asked to take over after Michael Beale was dismissed at the weekend following the 3-1 loss Aberdeen at Ibrox which left the Gers seven points behind cinch Premiership leaders Celtic. Rangers had beaten Real Betis in their Group C opener at Ibrox but found the Cypriot side too much, losing the first goal after nine minutes to defender Alex Moucketou-Moussounda. Striker Shavy Babicka added a second goal in the 59th minute before Light Blues attacker Abdallah Sima pulled a goal back for the Ibrox men but the visitors could not complete the comeback. Ahead of the trip to St Mirren on Sunday, Davis said: “I still believe we have some real quality players. Obviously, confidence has been hit. “You go through these periods in your career and it’s a really difficult moment. “As I say by sticking together you make sure to do the basics right in terms of hard work and application which they have been doing. “It’s important we continue that and things will turn because I believe in the qualities of the squad. “We’ll get players back which will help. The most important thing is right now is us being a group together. “It was a really difficult night because we felt a real opportunity to come here and build on the Betis game. “I think we caused a lot of our own problems in the game. Obviously, with the two goals we give away we’re really disappointed with and when that happens you have a mountain to climb. “Firstly I’ve got to take some responsibility. In the first half we kept trying to play in the middle of the pitch when it wasn’t really on, they were good at getting transitions from that with the pace they had up front which caused us problems all night. “Whenever you go behind in a second half you must throw some caution to the wind at certain points. “We tried to simplify the game really, trying to get the ball in behind, get it wide and cross the ball into the box and ultimately we didn’t do enough to take something from the game. “In terms of the effort of the players, I thought they tried to keep going till the end and in terms of the energy they put in, I couldn’t ask for any more in that respect. “There wasn’t a lack of effort, we’d never question that from the dressing room but it is a really difficult moment that everyone is in. “When that happens you maybe start to make the wrong decision and things like that. “Sunday’s coming up and it’s a really quick turnaround. We’re hurting from tonight but it’s important as a group we stick together.” Read More ‘Maverick’ Lucas Paqueta impresses David Moyes in West Ham’s Europa League win Roberto De Zerbi hails ‘incredible’ Brighton reaction to salvage Marseille draw Warren Gatland highlights hard work as Wales aim to continue progress Geoge Ford believes partnership with Owen Farrell is ready to deliver West Ham set European record with victory over Freiberg in Germany Managerless Rangers slip to abject Europa League defeat in Limassol

David Moyes saluted his “maverick” forward Lucas Paqueta after the 2-1 Europa League win at Freiburg, even though he drives him mad. Freiburg’s nickname is the Breisgau Brazilians due to their flamboyant style of play, but it was West Ham’s Samba star Paqueta who stole the show. He put them ahead after only nine minutes with a towering header from a cross by Jarrod Bowen, celebrating his return to the England squad. Paqueta then spent the rest of the evening tormenting the hosts with his array of flicks, tricks and occasional theatrics. “It was a bit of an old-fashioned goal, down the side with a good cross, and then a great header like an old-fashioned centre forward. I really enjoyed watching it,” said Hammers boss Moyes. “Jarrod played well but Lucas was terrific. He drives me mad sometimes but everybody who watched him would have said this player has got incredible talent. “There is a word that goes around, a maverick. He is that for us. “It is really important we get him in and adapt to him and accept some of his things he may not do, things which I would say are conventional. There is a word that goes around, a maverick. He is that for us David Moyes on Lucas Paqueta “But we are really enjoying him at the moment and he is terrific at taking the ball under pressure – but also there are moments when I say: ‘what are you doing’?” The match may have taken place on the edge of the Black Forest, but it was never going to be a piece of cake for the Hammers against a side eighth in the Bundesliga. They were also up against 34,000 noisy fans, with no away supporters allowed to attend following incidents during West Ham’s Europa Conference League final triumph in June. Freiburg equalised after half-time through Roland Sallai, but Nayef Aguerd’s header from a James Ward-Prowse corner made it two wins from two in Group A and a 17th match undefeated in Europe, a record for an English club. “It’s a brilliant achievement, I’ve said to the boys we need to keep it going. Winning the game tonight was most important,” added Moyes. “I’m really pleased. We played very well especially, in the opening 20 or 30 minutes. “They came back, which I expected. They got better and we had moments when we played very well but we mainly won the first half. We had to then be good defensively.” Read More Steven Davis remains confident in Rangers squad despite defeat to Limassol Roberto De Zerbi hails ‘incredible’ Brighton reaction to salvage Marseille draw Warren Gatland highlights hard work as Wales aim to continue progress Geoge Ford believes partnership with Owen Farrell is ready to deliver West Ham set European record with victory over Freiberg in Germany Managerless Rangers slip to abject Europa League defeat in Limassol

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Goals from Lucas Paquetá and Nayef Aguerd have helped West Ham make it two wins from two games in the Europa League with a 2-1 victory at Freiburg

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Managerless Rangers’ season went from bad to worse with a 2-1 Europa League defeat by Aris Limassol in Cyprus. Former Gers midfielder Steven Davis was asked to take over as boss on an interim basis after Michael Beale was dismissed at the weekend following the dismal 3-1 defeat by Aberdeen at Ibrox which left them seven points behind cinch Premiership leaders Celtic. However, whatever plan Davis put in place for Europe did not work in a dreadful first-half performance which saw defender Alex Moucketou-Moussounda head the home side in front after just nine minutes. Striker Shavy Babicka added a simple second goal in the 59th minute before Light Blues attacker Abdallah Sima pulled a goal back for the Ibrox men 10 minutes later but despite heavy pressure in the final stages the visitors could not complete the comeback. Rangers beat Real Betis in their Group C opener but once again the players came up short. The Light Blues travel to St Mirren on Sunday before the international break but this was a real setback in Europe with a double-header against Sparta Prague looming. There had been some encouraging team news for the visitors in the build-up to the game with striker Kemar Roofe and midfielder Nico Raskin declared fit. However, only the latter, who had missed four games with a knock, started with left-back Borna Barisic and attacker Scott Wright, sent off against Aberdeen, also coming into the first Gers team picked by Davis. The Cypriot side, who claimed their first league title last season, were playing their first home game in the Europa League in an 11,000-capacity stadium which looked less than half-full with a pitch far from perfect. Rangers, playing in a new mainly-red kit, looked disjointed and ill at ease from the start and there was no real surprise when they fell behind. Jack Butland blocked a shot from Mihlali Mayambela for a corner which was taken short and when Leo Bengtsson crossed into the box from the right, Moucketou-Moussounda got away from Ibrox defender Connor Goldson to flick a header past the Gers keeper. Moments later, after Barisic sloppily conceded possession, a quick Aris counter ended with Bengtsson clearing the Rangers bar from close range when he at least should have hit the target. The rattled visitors battled back and Aris’s Brazilian keeper Vana comfortably saved an angled-drive from Sam Lammers and then Gers striker Cyriel Dessers had the ball in the net only to be ruled offside by the linesman, confirmed by a lengthy VAR check. Vana saved a Sima header from a Barisic corner then the keeper collided with Dessers inside the box and required some treatment before continuing. The home side claimed for a penalty just on the stroke of half-time when the ball appeared to hit Sima’s hand inside the box but a VAR check ruled in favour of the lacklustre Light Blues. Mayembela started the second half by driving over from the edge of the box with the Gers defence again looking fragile. When Sima’s shot was parried into the air by Vana in the 54th minute Dessers could not finish it off although he was offside. The Cypriot side always looked dangerous on the break and Rangers fell further behind when Bengtsson left midfielder John Lundstram in his slip-stream down the left and crossed for Babicka to escape the attention of Ibrox defender Ben Davies and beat Butland with a confident finish. In the 67th minute Davis brought on Roofe and Jose Cifuentes for Lammers and Raskin and there was a quick return when Sima headed in a Lundstram cross, which brought another VAR check but this time the goal stood. Rangers had hope. Moments later, however, a mistake by Davies inside his own box almost proved costly but Butland saved the drive from Aris substitute Aleksandr Kokorin at the expense of a corner which came to nothing. Rangers pushed hard in the final stages for the equaliser but it was mostly in desperation and not even six minutes of added time could help salvage a point. Read More West Ham maintain Europa League momentum with win in Germany Coco Gauff reaches last eight of China Open and takes winning run to 15 matches Gregor Townsend confident Scotland can get what they need from Ireland game Jos Buttler: New Zealand completely outplayed England in World Cup opener The Haggard Badger’s value to Ireland highlighted ahead of milestone match Jonas Eidevall: Alessia Russo won’t put herself under pressure on Man Utd return

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