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Roma displayed impressive effectiveness in the way Roma handled this trip to Scotland. Minimum of fuss. Roma from Italy’s capital did, however, meet favourable opposition when placing their Europa League bid back on track. Observers noted a glaring gulf in quality between the Serie A outfit and a the Scottish team side that has now suffered defeat in a club record seven continental matches in a row.

To their credit, the home side at least fought hard during a second half when surrender felt the more likely option. Yet, the game was decided as a contest by then. The Scottish club remain rooted to the foot of the tournament, which should constitute an disgrace to a team of this standing. The Giallorossi have ambitions again on making proper impact. One slight disappointment in this match was in not delivering a result appropriately depicting the mismatch in quality.

Amazingly, this represented only Roma’s second continental encounter with a team from Scotland since the historic Fairs Cup fixtures with Hibernian in the early 60s. Their last such match, against Dundee United over two decades later, became overshadowed (to put it mildly) by the corruption of a referee. Back then, Scottish clubs could vie with the top sides in Europe. The current campaign has seen the co-efficient plunge to a point that will shortly have huge consequences.

Danny Röhl’s main quality so far as the fanbase are concerned is that he is not Russell Martin. The latter’s dismal spell as the head coach lasted 123 days in the early part of the campaign. The German coach, the recent appointment at the helm, has shown promise though within a tiny sample size. The dugouts saw a generation game; the Rangers boss is thirty-six, his counterpart Gian Piero Gasperini is sixty-seven.

Another element was much more noticeable as the teams lined up. Rangers’ glaring lack of height against the visitors looked ominous. That concern was confirmed within 13 minutes as the Roma midfielder easily flicked on a corner at the near post. At the back, Matías Soulé burst forward to fire Roma in front. The visitors without the injured Evan Ferguson and Paulo Dybala, who have been questioned for bluntness despite reasonable results in the tournament, were delighted with their quick lead.

Rangers could have equalised immediately. Instead, the forward sent his effort off target after a mix-up in the visitors’ backline. Chermiti’s £8m purchase from Everton has piled pressure on the Rangers transfer hierarchy. He has at least the physique to be an effective striker but seems unwilling or unable to utilize them fully.

The Italian outfit dominated opening period the ball from that point. Roma doubled their lead through Lorenzo Pellegrini, whose curling shot into the far post of the goalkeeper’s net came after a pass from Artem Dovbyk. Rangers will lament the fact Pellegrini stood in complete freedom but it was a gorgeous finish. The stadium, typically a boisterous venue on continental evenings, had been silenced nine minutes before the break. The discontent which greeted the half-time whistle were timid; Rangers were clearly in the midst of being outclassed.

After the break began against a unusual atmosphere. Those Rangers fans turned their attentions once again towards the club’s chief executive, the CEO, and transfer chief, the director. A pair of displays, clearly menacing in tone, showed the duo with targets on their images. It raises questions what the Rangers chairman makes of the situation. After all, Andrew Cavenagh enjoyed an low-profile life as a wealthy entrepreneur in the United States before fronting a takeover of Rangers. Fans have not turned on Cavenagh yet but there is a rebellious mood in the air. This is easy to understand; Rangers’ leadership is completely unimpressive.

Right on cue, Chermiti was sent through on the keeper on the hour mark and hit the outside of the goal. That moment sparked Rangers’ best period of the game, in which their substitute the young midfielder shot narrowly past the post. Yet, nonetheless, difficult to gauge Roma’s continued offensive intent until the full-back was given a opportunity from close range which he inexplicably lifted and on to the underside of the bar.

That opportunity as far as meaningful opportunity were involved. The raft of changes from both teams resulted in this fixture closed more in the fashion of a pre-season friendly than competitive match. That scenario benefited the Italians fine. It prompted reflection to consider how on earth Rangers, finalists in this competition in recently and strong enough of the last eight a season ago, arrived at the point of making up the numbers.