Rangers have now won just two of their last nine UEFA Europa League (UEL) home games (D3, L4) after the 10-man Glaswegians lost 1-0 to Genk at Ibrox on matchday one of the 2025/26 campaign.
After a nervous start, Rangers started to look considerably more threatening, with John Souttar’s header from James Tavernier’s free-kick cleared unbelievably off the line by Genk captain Bryan Heynen.
Following that scary moment, the visitors went straight down the other end, with Zakaria El Ouahdi’s gorgeous cross sent over horribly by former Celtic striker Oh Hyeon-gyu.
Heynen continued to pull the strings in midfield, feeding Patrik Hrošovský, who evaded Nicolas Raskin brilliantly before striking the woodwork.
It was now Genk’s turn to pile on the pressure, but they may have momentarily felt like they would fall behind when referee Matej Jug’s VAR review, perhaps controversially, adjudged Joris Kayembe not to have handled following Tavernier’s downward header.
That decision proved even more significant around five minutes later when Jug produced a deserved straight red card after Mohamed Diomande had lunged in on El Ouahdi.
Things then seemingly went from bad to worse for Rangers when Tavernier conceded a penalty after catching Yaimar Medina, but Oh saw his spot-kick excellently saved by Jack Butland.
That stop noticeably lifted the home crowd, who booed Jug off the field, with Rangers head coach Russell Martin bringing on Oliver Antman for Mikey Moore after Diomande’s sending-off.
To their credit, the Scottish giants began the second period brightly enough, with Thelo Aasgaard miscuing, but Butland was then forced to beat away Hrošovský’s effort.
After a spell of dominance, Genk finally got their noses in front on 55 minutes as Oh made amends for his earlier mishaps, scoring after collecting Jarne Steuckers’ inch-perfect pass following a sweeping team move.
Rangers did not let their heads drop, with Djeidi Gassama flashing a shot wide, although midway through the half, Oh thought he’d doubled his account, only for the would-be assist-maker Hrošovský to be flagged offside.
In the end, Martin’s triple change late on had little impact, with Genk earning their first away clean sheet since early March to get their UEL campaign off to the best possible start.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Bryan Heynen (Genk)