Football: Laudrup injury mars Rangers victory

Round-up

Rangers paid for their easy 5-0 victory over GI Gotu in the Faroe Islands last night, Brian Laudrup limping off before half-time in their European Champions' League qualifying round first leg.

Rangers' manager, Walter Smith, was hopeful that the injury was not too bad, though, saying: "The muscle injury will keep him out for a week."

Two of their older strikers, Gordon Durie and their substitute Ally McCoist, scored twice each, McCoist setting a European record for a Scot by taking his haul to 20 goals. By contrast, Marco Negri marked his first competitive match for the club with the opening goal, scoring with a first-time shot from Alex Cleland's cross.

The return leg looks a formality before Rangers take on Sweden's IFK Gothenburg for a place in the league.

Dundee United fared even better on their trip to Andorra in the Uefa Cup, winning 8-0 in the first leg of their Uefa Cup qualifying round tie against CE Principat. Robbie Winters scored four, and Gary McSwegan three.

It was not a bad night for all the minnows, though. Barry Town held Dynamo Kiev to only 2-0 in the first leg of their Champions' League qualifier in front of 30,000 in the Ukrainian capital. Barry's general manager, Chris Aust, said: "Theplayers really feel that we can cause an upset and we're really looking forward to next Wednesday. We're very confident we can go through to the next round of the competition."

The Irish League's Coleraine did well to keep Grasshopper Zurich down to only 3-0 in the first leg of their Uefa Cup preliminary round first leg in Switzerland. Their goalkeeper, Wesley Lamont, was their hero, producing a string of superb saves, including a late penalty.

Serbs and Croats settle old scores, page 12