Police detain 42 people around Feyenoord-Rangers match

The police arrested or detained a total of 42 people around the football match between Rotterdam's Feyenoord the Glasgow Rangers on Thursday. In addition to the fans who went to watch the match in De Kuip stadium in Rotterdam, hundreds of Scottish football supporters also gathered in Amsterdam.

Most of those taken into custody were Dutch, a Rotterdam police spokesperson said to NL Times. They were held mainly on accusations related to general misconduct, like lighting fireworks and public intoxication. It was a busy night for police, the spokesperson said, but there were no major incidents throughout the night. 

Some 600 Rangers fans also enjoyed the game in Amsterdam without trouble, a spokesperson for the Amsterdam police said. More came to the capital after the match was over, and they were present in several bars in the city center. There were no real threats or serious incidents to speak of, according to the spokesperson. 

Before the match there were concerns about public order in Rotterdam, given that mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb had to reduce police presences at football matches due to a national shortage in police officers.  A spokesperson for the Rotterdam police called Thursday night not particularly different than other Friday or Saturday nights. 

By the end of the night, Rangers fans had watched their team hold a 2-2 draw. Feyenoord went level in the 68th minute, just a few minutes after Rangers put their second goal on the scoreboard.

The result was good enough for Rangers to march into first place on the Europa League Group G table. Feyenoord fell to last place, with Porto leapfrogging the Rotterdam squad by scoring twice in the last 15 minutes of their away match against Young Boys in Bern.