Rangers' first post-Christmas adventure in Europe for nine years came to an eventful end in Feyenoord's magnificent de Kuip stadium.

The home side won 3-2 on the night to take the UEFA Cup fourth-round tie 4-3 on aggregate and a place in the quarter-finals is now theirs, ending any prospect of a 'Battle of Britain' clash with Leeds in the last eight.

Both sides had a man sent off, with Patrick Paauwe the first to go before Neil McCann, who had opened the scoring, also saw red.

In the end, a moment of bad defending a minute after the restart, when Bonaventure Kalou made it 3-1, cost Rangers, who had still been in the tie despite two first-half goals from Pierre van Hooijdonk, both from direct free-kicks.

Paauwe's dismissal - for conceding a penalty that Barry Ferguson despatched to make it 3-2 - shortened the odds of a famous comeback but chances were spurned and it was not to be.

Much of the pre-match build-up had centred around Ronald de Boer's fitness battle after being ruled out of the first leg with a foot injury.

The former Ajax man did indeed start but his arrival was no more than a red herring as he lasted just 39 minutes, being replaced by Michael Mols.

By then a more accurate picture of the game was already emerging, with van Hooijdonk having just netted the first of his two goals.

Both were from similar positions in front of goal and both ended up in the same portion of the net, an area to Stefan Klos' right that the German could not reach.

Rangers defender Arthur Numan had warned before the Ibrox first leg, which had ended 1-1, that van Hooijdonk was better than David Beckham from set-pieces and such claims did not look exaggerated.

De Boer's place in the starting line-up had not been a surprise and Bert Konterman, the former Feyenoord favourite, was also able to play despite a toe injury.

But Alex McLeish's selection for such an important match had been an unpredictable one nonetheless, with Tony Vidmar moved from centre back to right back and Scott Wilson brought in from the stiffs to fill the gap.

Vidmar was given a torrid time by teenage winger Robin van Persie and was booked for fouling him on the touchline with the game half an hour old. The Australian brought him down again in the final minute of the half and van Hooijdonk promptly scored from it.

His first goal had come from a similar position and followed a foul by Scott Wilson on the striker himself.

Rangers had struck the first blow however after weathering an early spell of pressure from the home side.

Peter Lovenkrands looked to have had a legitimate appeal for an 11th-minute penalty when Paauwe bodychecked him in the box.

That was not given but in the 26th minute McCann put Rangers ahead from a quickly-taken and perfectly-flighted free-kick after de Boer had been fouled.

McCann sped into the box ahead of his marker and diverted the ball on the volley past Feyenoord goalkeeper Edwin Zoetebier.

The joy that moment had brought to the thousands who had come to Rotterdam to cheer on their team seemed to be a distant memory when Feyenoord made it 3-1 just a minute after the restart.

Robin van Persie continued his tormenting of the hapless Vidmar and when his shot rebounded off an upright van Hooijdonk reacted quickest to cross into the box.

Kalou was there ahead of the Rangers backline and he headed past Klos from some five yards out.

Rangers now had to score twice and almost straight away the job was half done.

Mols got in behind Paauwe, who brought him down for a penalty, with Paauwe being further punished with a straight red card as he had been the last man.

Up stepped Ferguson and, just as he had done in the first leg, slotted the penalty into the net.

Rangers' new mission was to find one more goal to take the tie with the bonus of a man advantage for the final 35 minutes, at least in theory.

Their first real attempt should have been successful when Claudio Caniggia got the better of his challenger in the box and laid the ball back for Lovenkrands.

It did not quite reach him as quickly as he would have liked but nonetheless he had all the goal to aim at before firing wide.

But the home side were also wasteful with van Hooijdonk heading over from close range from a corner that resulted from more clever play from van Persie at Vidmar's expense.

Rangers' extra man advantage instantly evaporated in the 73rd minute when McCann stupidly got himself sent off.

He had been booked in the first half for a foul on Tomasz Rzasa and when Brett Emerton appeared to have hauled him down illegally he lost his cool when the free-kick went the other way.

German referee Herbert Fandel did not take kindly to the dissent and booked him, although he did not immediately realise that a red card had to follow.

Rangers sent Tore Andre Flo on for the final 15 minutes and their second great chance to win the tie was squandered by Mols, who was clean through with only Zoetebier to beat yet, with his side's fortunes depending on him, he could find only the side-netting.

Seconds later van Hooijdonk headed wide from close range to keep the tie on a knife edge until the last kick of the game.

Feyenoord held on however and a place in the quarter-finals was theirs.

Teams:

Feyenoord: Zoetebier, Emerton, Rzasa, Paauwe, Loovens (Sprockel 87), Kalou (Smolarek 77), van Wonderen, van Persie (Elmander 90), Bosvelt, Ono, van Hooijdonk.

Subs Not Used: Timmer, Aros, Leonardo, Korneev.

Sent Off: Paauwe (53).

Booked: Emerton.

Goals: van Hooijdonk 37, 45, Kalou 46.

Rangers: Klos, Wilson, Amoruso, Vidmar (Flo 75), Caniggia, Konterman, Numan, Ferguson, de Boer (Mols 39), McCann, Lovenkrands.

Subs Not Used: McGregor, Kanchelskis, Ross, Hughes, Dodds.

Sent Off: McCann (73).

Booked: Vidmar, McCann.

Goals: McCann 26, Ferguson 54 pen.

Agg (4-3) Att: 43,000

Ref: Herbert Fandel (Kyllburg).