DaMarcus Beasley provided his usual mix of speed and tenacious defense off the bench, coming on in the 66th minute of Rangers' come from behind 2-1 victory over VfB Stuttgart in a UEFA Champions League Group E match at Ibrox on Wednesday.

Stuttgart struck first blood on a goal by super striker Mario Gómez in the 56th minute, but Rangers equalized with a well-taken goal by Charlie Adam, starting in place of Indiana native Beasley.

Jean-Claude Darcheville rounded off the scoring with a penalty in the 75th minute after Stuttgart captain Fernando Meira clattered into Alan Hutton in the box, sending the capacity crowd of 49,795 into a singing frenzy.

Adam took up Beasley's usual position of left winger as manager Walter Smith went with a 4-1-4-1 formation against the German champions at home. Adam had not featured in the Light Blues set-up since the first UEFA qualifier back in August, and he took advantage of the opportunity by delivering good crosses into the box in the first half.

However, Smith had always planned that Beasley would replace the not quite match fit Adam at some point in the game, and the USMNT veteran was warming up to come in when Adam scored the Glasgow side's equalizer in the 66th minute.

"(Adam's) been injured lately, so I didn't feel he was ready to go the full 90 minutes for us tonight," Smith said at the post-match press conference.

The game did not enjoy the benefit of a pulsating start as both teams looked tentative, trying to be too patient with the ball in possession. Stuttgart, coming off their 3-0 demolition of Energie Cottbus over the weekend, looked a little weary as they struggled to find space for Gómez to exploit in the Rangers defense.

As has been their trademark this season, Rangers always looked in control at the back. Even when some of their individual play was a bit sloppy, they still managed to keep the Schwabians from seriously threatening Allan MacGregor's goal.

Carlos Cuellar was at most times stout in defense, beating either Gómez or strike partner Sami Khedira to the final ball.

While the second half started with more energy being displayed by both sides, the first 10 minutes continued to display the choppy possession that marked the first half - but it was clear that the level of play was improving, especially from Rangers.

It was slightly against the run of play that Stuttgart managed to grab the game's first goal as Gómez was able to get a foot on Khedira's strong pass and misdirect past MacGregor.

"I was slightly disappointed by that first goal because we had started to get into the game," Smith would say later at the press conference.

Rather than put their heads down, Rangers came out fighting after the goal, and were able to bring the game back to level terms within six minutes. A darting, juking run from Hutton, who was a major factor for the Light Blues in the second half, preceded a pass to a wide open Adam, who went for placement over power as he put a curling ball into the top right hand corner out of the reach of Stuttgart goalkeeper Raphael Schaefer.

It would be Adam's last contribution of the night as Beasley replaced him in the 66th minute. The former Chicago Fire star struggled to make an immediate impact, but was a key player in the later stages of the game, providing solid man marking at the back and combining that with strong runs down the left flank when Rangers broke on the counterattack.

Darcheville provided the icing on the cake for the Light Blues in the 75th minute when he drilled his penalty to the left side of goal as Schäfer had guessed right.

With the Glasgow side in such a difficult group, they have to be delighted with winning their first Champions League group game, with tough games to follow against Barcelona and Lyon.

Scoring
STU - Mario Gómez 1 (Sami Khedira) 56'
RAN - Charlie Adam 1 (Alan Hutton) 62'
RAN - Jean-Claude Darcheville 1 (PK) 75'

Line-ups
RAN - Allan McGregor; Alan Hutton, Sasa Papac, Carlos Cuellar, David Weir, Kevin Thomson, Barry Ferguson, Brahim Hemdani, Charlie Adam (DaMarcus Beasley 66'), Steven Whittaker (Amdy Faye 85'), Jean-Claude Darcheville (Nacho Novo 82')

STU - Raphael Schäfer; Ricardo Osorio, Serdar Tasci, Fernando Meira, Pável Pardo, Arthur Boka, Cacau, Roberto Hilbert, Antonio Da Silva (Ewerthon 70'), Sami Khedira (Yildiray Baştϋrk 77'), Mario Gómez

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