Gers bid goes to last game

Walter Smith's men now need at least a draw when Lyon come calling in the final group match on December 12 after the French champions earned a draw against Barcelona.

Rangers had taken the lead through substitute Charlie Adam before Stuttgart hit back through Cacau. Barry Ferguson then cancelled out Pavel Pardo's strike before Ciprian Marica clinched the win late on.

Rangers squandered a great chance to take an early lead when Barry Ferguson's shot cannoned off a red shirt and the rebound fell kindly to DaMarcus Beasley but the ball tangled under his feet and his weak effort was easily dealt with by goalkeeper Raphael Schafer.

At the other end, Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor was called into action to block a point-blank effort from Cacau with his legs.

Adam had an immediate impact on the game after replacing Lee McCulloch when he opened the scoring within 60 seconds. A Beasley corner was nodded down by Carlos Cuellar and Adam was on hand to stab home from a few yards with his first touch of the ball.

Stuttgart pushed forward in search of an equaliser before the break and were rewarded for their hard work on the half-time whistle. Rangers were caught napping at a Thomas Hitzlsperger corner, which Pardo knocked into the path of Cacau to backheel home.

Pardo put the Germans ahead with 62 minutes gone when he unleashed an audacious 25-yard shot which sliced through the Gers defence and sneaked under the body of McGregor.

But Rangers were back on level terms eight minutes later when Steven Naismith robbed Mathieu Delpierre of possession before racing to the by-line and cutting back to Ferguson, who had plenty of time to find the net.

Marica then earned Stuttgart their first points of the campaign with six minutes to go. Ludovic Magnin was the provider and Marica managed to squeeze in front of David Weir to flick a deft volley into the top corner.