The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Rangers spot on in thriller
ROYAL ANTWERP 3 RANGERS 4
Borna Barisic’s spotkick double ensured Steven Gerrard’s team survived a roller-coaster Europa League clash to edge out Royal Antwerp 4-3 in Belgium last night.
In a clash that had everything, the Ibrox men held their nerve to salvage their unbeaten run in continental action this term and claim a vital firstleg lead.
Things looked to be going to plan for the Light Blues at the Bosuilstadion as Joe Aribo fired them ahead – only for Antwerp to hit back in a controversial end to the first half with goals from Felipe Avenatti and Lior Refaelov.
Barisic – making his 100th appearance for the Ibrox outfit – levelled it up with his first penalty only for Gers to concede again as some more poor defending allowed Martin Hongla to score.
But Rangers made it 10 games without defeat in Europe this term as Ryan Kent’s equaliser and another Barisic spot-kick sealed a frenetic finale.
Frank Vercauteren’s side were missing six key men but Rangers now have their own injury fears ahead of next Thursday’s Glasgow return after seeing both James Tavernier and Kemar Roofe suffer first-half injuries.
Gerrard made his intent clear as he welcomed Alfredo Morelos, Roofe and Scott Arfield back into his line-up, although he did raise some eyebrows by benching Ryan Jack, Kent and Ianis Hagi.
For 44 and a half minutes, Gers were in total control, dominating twothirds of the pitch with only some carelessness in and around the Antwerp box letting the hosts off the hook.
Rangers even retained a look of confidence when they lost Tavernier to injury after 24 minutes.
Gerrard branded reports of a pre-match injury to the skipper “fake news” on the eve of the match but the discomfort on his face looked very real as he was forced to limp off after a collision with Hongla.
Aribo found Roofe in the six-yard box but the frontman’s rustiness after his recent injury was clear as he failed to get a shot off.
Morelos did pull the trigger as he was sent through on Alireza Beiranvand’s goal by Barisic’s wonderful ball over the top – but it was another golden chance wasted as he shot straight at the keeper.
Beiranvand, Antwerp’s second-choice stopper, had given Rangers a couple of early sniffs with mis-hit clearances and it was another blunder which handed Gerrard’s men the opener after 38 minutes.
Roofe’s touch was heavy as he tried to control a piercing long pass from Connor Goldson but Beiranvand spilled what should have been an easy gather. The ball fell to Morelos, who teed up Aribo to sweep Rangers’ 100th goal of the season into an empty net as the Iranian held his head in his hands.
But Antwerp got two major gifts from Bulgarian referee Georgi Kabakov before the break.
First he gave a soft freekick as Barisic dived in on Refaelov. It was harsh on the Rangers left-back but there was no excusing his failure to track Avenatti, who was left free to nod home with a brilliant header.
Roofe then limped off with a calf strain, replaced by Kent, but the bad news was not finished there as Kabakov played eight minutes of stoppage time – four more than the number signalled – before handing the hosts another hugely generous award as Steven Davis made contact with the merest of taps on Refaelov’s ankle inside the box.
There was no reprieve from VAR as the Israeli picked himself up from his theatrical fall to fire past Allan Mcgregor.
But the TV officials were more sympathetic to the Ibrox cause 13 minutes after the break as Kabakov was called over to the screen to review Ritchie De Laet’s tug on Morelos.
The spot-kick was given, with Barisic taking over Tavernier’s duties to ram his team level.
Aribo had already had another attempt kicked off the line by that point but just as Rangers looked set to step up their search for a win, they found themselves behind again with 66 minutes gone.
Antwerp had barely threatened since the break but Refaelov was given too much space on the edge of the box to set the ball up for Hongla, who fired into the net off the post.
But Rangers claimed a third precious away goal with seven minutes left as Kent swapped passes with Morelos before rifling home the equaliser.
And Gerrard’s men got the winner in the final minute as Abdoulaye Seck saw red after stopping a Kent strike with his hand, with Barisic slotting home the all-important penalty.
Callum Davidson won’t have the League Cup final against Livingston on his mind when he picks his St Johnstone team to face Motherwell at Fir Park tomorrow.
And it will be a Hampden block-out for the players as well.
Saints are in no position to take their eye off the ball in the Premiership and, even if they were tucked more safely in mid-table or higher, looking farther into the distance than the next match is a mindset to be avoided.
“One thing the players haven’t done this season is hold back and I don’t think they’ll be doing that,” said Davidson.
“They know how important the league is, first and foremost. That’s for me the biggest thing, the league. The cup is always a bonus.
“So, for me, Saturday’s the most important game and it’s the one I’ll think about. We are in the middle of a fight for survival and top six.
“That is the most important thing in my mind at the moment and it should be in the players’ minds as well. We want three points this weekend.
“It won’t be a team selection with Hampden in mind. It will be a team selection purely to win the game on Saturday.
“And after that we’ll see who’s available, who’s fit.
“Only then will I look at a team to win the final on Sunday week. If anyone does hold back at Motherwell then they will have less chance of playing the following weekend.”
Davidson hasn’t even contemplated what his Hampden Park starting line-up may be, never mind pencil it in over a week in advance.
“It is a funny question,” he said. “Quite a few people have asked me that.
“At the moment I would probably say that I haven’t put much thought into it.
“I am very much looking at the next game coming up to see what we can do.
“There might be players on Saturday who perform really well and I then think I can’t leave them out.
“Even Sunday night after the game I never really look at my team for next week. I usually wait until Tuesday or Wednesday in the week before I start to make my mind up.
“I look at certain things in games and what I think certain players can do. There will be places up for grabs.”
On-loan winger Glenn Middleton could be a player who makes a late decisive run from left-field for cup final selection if he backs up his impressive substitute performance against Celtic by catching the eye at Motherwell.
“Glenn and Guy (Melamed) are probably two who are making a big impact for us at the moment,” said Davidson.
“We know what Glenn can do and it is nice to see it. Guy’s assists and goals have been fantastic since he has played.
“It is great for me having these type of players wanting to play. It gives me a headache, but it is a good headache. It is an attacking one and I think we probably lacked that at the start of the season.”
Saints have four matches left before the league split.
Davidson isn’t targeting perfection but the challenge he has set isn’t far off it.
“I am looking at three wins,” said the Perth boss.
“Can we get three wins as quick as we can? That will put us in a stronger position and that starts on Saturday.
“The cup final is a bit of a distraction for me. We want to concentrate on this Saturday and how we go about our business.
“The league obviously gives you a chance to play in these cup finals so we need to make sure we stay in the league.
“We know it is a dogfight and I think the players have risen to the challenge over the past couple of months. We need to continue that until the end of the season.”
Davidson isn’t sure about his old Preston North End and Scotland team-mate Graham Alexander’s no-jacket touchline look since he took over from Stephen Robinson at Motherwell, but he does know the qualities he will bring to his first management job north of the border.
“He’s soft really, it is all for show!” he joked.
“He is freezing on the sidelines.”
Davidson added: “I think he still plays a similar formation (to predecessor Robinson). Whether he changes that after the result at the weekend (the heavy defeat by Hamilton Accies) I don’t know.
“All I know with Graham is how he sets his team up. They will be very hard to play against. He was at places where he had to change things. He is quite open-minded that way and he wants to win games.
“We are both pretty similar in that respect and that is probably why we get on so well. I will probably have a wee argument with him for 90 minutes on the sideline after 3pm then after that we will shake hands and get on again.”