Agony and ecstasy for Old Firm
Gerrard says Rapid result is the high benchmark for his side this season
RANGERS rose to the occasion to record a famous victory at Ibrox last night... while Celtic let their lead slip in Austria.
Both sides of the Glasgow rivalry were in Europa League action last night, with Steven Gerrard’s men beating Rapid Vienna 3-1 at Ibrox to top Group G.
Brendan Rodgers’ side capitulated in the second half of their Group B match in Salzburg though, losing 3-1.
STEVEN Gerrard last night praised his players for producing a vintage Rangers performance in a 3-1 triumph over Rapid Vienna – and described their display as the best of his reign as manager.
An Alfredo Morelos double and a James Tavernier penalty ensured his side came from behind against their Austrian rivals at Ibrox to win and move to the top of their Europa
League section. But the Liverpool and England great, whose side are now one point ahead of Rapid Vienna in Group G, warned his charges they have a lot of work to do to qualify for the last 32
“It was an incredible night,” he said. “We should have won the game 3-0. Every single player to a man was outstanding all over the pitch.
“That’s the level of performance I’ve been looking for since I came in. That’s a Rangers performance of old, a successful Rangers performance.
“That’s the best 90 minutes we’ve given and we have beaten a very good team. They had good ideas, good players and good philosophy. We beat a good team.
“I don’t want to go down the road of naming two or three players. I thought we were excellent all over the pitch.
‘If I see a paper tomorrow and one of my players has less than an eight, I’ll be asking questions!
“I’ve been saying to the players ‘when are we going to get 90 minutes and everyone at it all over the pitch? We got that. The challenge for us now is can we find it more consistently?
Asked if Rangers could build on their strong start and progress to the last 32 of the competition, Gerrard said: “I said before the Villarreal game that we have a belief in the dressing room and a confidence. It’s not an over-confidence or an arrogance.
“We’re on a decent journey in Europe and we have that belief that we can defend well. We have got players that when they do believe can score goals. We’ve scored five in two against two top opponents.
“But for me it’s important to calm expectations. We’ve got four points. Yeah, we’re top of the group, but we’ve achieved nothing so far.
“The next game [against Spartak in 13 days] is very, very important as we’re at home. If we give that level of performance there is every chance we could get seven points out of the first three which is a really good start and closer to where we want to be.
“Excellent tonight, delighted to have four points but there’s tonnes more hard work to do.”
Gerrard singled out Morelos, who equalised just before half-time and then netted in injury time, for special praise for his all-round performance and goals.
“He was excellent, a handful all night,” he said. “Out of possession, he ran his socks off. He was a great focal point for us.
“Andy Halliday was telling him it was a good job he scored the second, because Andy was in for a tap-in!”