Cousin's dream comes true for Rangers

Rangers FC striker Daniel Cousin said he had realised a childhood dream after scoring his first UEFA Champions League goal in the Scottish club's stunning Group E victory over Olympique Lyonnais.

Pivotal role
The Gabon international played a pivotal role in one of Rangers' greatest European triumphs, leading the frontline with strength and skill as Walter Smith's men carried out their counterattacking game to perfection with a 3-0 victory. After Lee McCulloch's first-half strike, Cousin doubled the visitors' lead with a fine turn and shot just after the interval before setting up DaMarcus Beasley with a sweeping, pinpoint pass five minutes later.

'Magnificent achievement'
Rangers' second win in as many games ensures they top the section with FC Barcelona, and Cousin could not hide his delight, describing the success as "a magnificent achievement for Rangers". Speaking to uefa.com, he added: "Everything went perfectly. We closed Lyon down and frustrated them, then when we got chances ourselves we put the ball in the net. We played well but luck was on our side too, because we had three shots and scored three goals whereas Lyon had many shots and hit the woodwork three times."

'Childhood dream'
Cousin is well placed to appreciate the significance of inflicting Lyon's heaviest ever home defeat in the UEFA Champions League having spent the first eleven seasons of his career in France. The 30-year-old striker, who moved to Ibrox from RC Lens in the summer, said: "I never had much success [at Stade de Gerland] in Ligue 1 so to score my first Champions League goal here and help Rangers win means a lot to me. All kids dream about scoring in the Champions League and I'm no different. It's a night I'll never forget."

'Enormous confidence'
With six points already separating Rangers and Barcelona from Lyon and VfB Stuttgart, Cousin knows the Scottish giants are well placed but is taking nothing for granted. "There are still four games to play and lots of points to win or lose," he pointed out. "We play Barcelona in our next game so we are not going to get ahead of ourselves. This result has given us an enormous amount of confidence, though, and hopefully we can keep the run going."

Monumental task
The mood could hardly have been more different in the Lyon camp as midfielder Mathieu Bodmer reflected on the monumental task that lies ahead. "We've already played a third of our matches and we haven't got any points," Bodmer told uefa.com. "What makes it worse is that Rangers and Barcelona have broken clear. But we have 12 points left to play for and so long as we have a chance we will keep on fighting."