Rangers striker Darcheville: My horror miss cost us last 16 glory

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The Frenchman described his failure to find the net against Lyon from just three yards out as 'the greatest disappointment of my career'.

With Lyon a goal up following Sidney Govou's first-half strike, Darcheville's 80th-minute effort following a Barry Ferguson cross could have earned Rangers the point they needed to qualify.

Net loss: agony for Darcheville as he holds his head in his hands after missing from only three yards at Ibrox last night

But he somehow clipped the bar - and his disastrous evening went from bad to worse when he was sent off for an apparent stamp on Kim Kallstrom as Lyon romped to a 3-0 win with two late goals from Karim Benzema.

"This is one of the most disappointing nights in my whole career," said Darcheville, who only came off the bench for the final 19 minutes. "I knew this was a massive game for Rangers and I'm very disappointed.

"I'm a striker, I'm 30 years old and I have the experience to handle the occasion. Ten minutes from time, I was sure that I would score and the game would change. Tonight I'm not happy.

"I had a great chance to score. I don't want to make an excuse but before the ball came to me it took a little bobble.

"I'm upset because I know that in the Champions League it's not usual to get five or six chances. I had the one chance to score and, unlike Benzema for them, I was not able to take it."

Darcheville insisted that Slovakian referee Lubos Michel had got it wrong when giving him his red card. He will now be suspended when Rangers enter the UEFA Cup in February.

Down and out: Barry Ferguson slumps to the ground in despair at full-time as Kallstrom leads the Lyon goal celebrations

"I take my responsibilities seriously, but I have to say I don't think it was a red card," said Darcheville, despite television pictures appearing to show him retaliate after a tackle by Kallstrom. "I was very surprised that the referee showed me a red - I was actually moving back up the park because I felt the ref would show me a yellow."

The striker has now promised to recover quickly from his crushing disappointment to help Rangers reach the latter stages of the UEFA Cup - and land the SPL title.

"I'm not happy because before the game I felt we had a chance to reach the last 16 - now that's finished. OK, we stay in the UEFA Cup and maybe we have a chance to do well in that.

"I don't fear this is my last chance at the Champions League. We have a lot of young players and this is a very good experience for these players.

"Now we have to try to win the SPL so that we can bring this experience into next season's competition. Rangers have played well in Europe this year, so now we have to feel we have a good chance in the UEFA Cup. We have to wait and see."

Victorious Lyon coach Alain Perrin said he feared Rangers were about to get their vital equaliser when skipper Ferguson presented Darcheville with his chance.

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"I was scared at that moment," he said. "Often these things are the turning point in a game and I really thought that he would score. We are delighted with this scenario. We knew Rangers would be hard to beat, that they have a great record at home. But we played an attacking game and it worked for us.

"We knew it would be hard to qualify after taking zero points from our first two games. So, it has been a great achievement for us to come back - it shows desire and a willingness never to give up."