‘We said to them at halftime not to panic’ – Rangers boss on an incredible night in Europe
Rangers manager Steven Gerrard paid tribute to his players last night after a thrilling 4-3 victory against Royal Antwerp in the first leg of their Europa League round-of-32 match. But he admitted there was “a lot to analyse" after the seven-goal thriller was settled by a last-minute Borna Barisic penalty.
"It was a fantastic game for the neutral, but for the manager there's certainly a lot to analyse,” said Gerrard.
"It's very difficult to win away from home in Europe, so I've got to give the boys credit for winning the game. They were much better in the second half.
"We said to them at half-time not to panic. Over the course of the 90 minutes I thought we did enough to win the game."
Rangers took the lead in Belgium but found themselves 2-1 and 3-2 down, before winning 4-3. Midfielder Steven Davis added: "It certainly was a bit of a rollercoaster.
"I thought our attitude was excellent. It was a hard-fought win and a good result to take back to Ibrox."
ROYAL ANTWERP 3
Avenatti 45, Refaelov 45 pen, Hongla 66
RANGERS 4
Aribo 38, Barisic 59 pen, 90 pen, Kent 83
On a night when Steven Gerrard’s emotions must have ebbed and flowed in tandem with the breathless action which unfolded in front of him at the Bosuil Stadium, Rangers put themselves in pole position to reach the last 16 of the Europa League.
A quite extraordinary contest of unrelenting drama saw Borna Barisic’s second penalty kick of the match claim a 90th minute winner for Gerrard’s team in a seven-goal thriller.
It was an evening of VAR controversy as Rangers, leading through a Joe Aribo goal, trailed 2-1 at half-time after a disputed penalty award to Royal Antwerp.
The tumultuous action saw Rangers lose captain James Tavernier and Kemar Roofe to injury but their resilience was impressive as they hit back through Barisic’s first spot kick and then, after falling behind again and facing only a second defeat of their season, levelled once more through Ryan Kent before grabbing the late winner.
If the injuries to two key players clouded the night for Gerrard, he will have been thrilled by the courage of his side who will fancy themselves to finish the job against Antwerp at Ibrox next Thursday.
Tavernier damaged his right knee while in a typically advanced position, making a challenge on Martin Hongla just outside the Antwerp area. It was immediately clear he had sustained a significant injury and while it was to his credit that he tried to play on, it was no surprise when he had to be replaced by Leon Balogun.
Tavernier is as robust as they come but the irony of the situation was that his natural deputy, teenage rightback Nathan Patterson, is one of the five Rangers players currently facing disciplinary proceedings for a breach of coronavirus protocols.
The loss of their skipper didn’t disrupt Rangers too severely at a period of the first half in which they had been taking control of proceedings in the middle of the park and beginning to look the more threatening side after an evenly matched first 20 minutes.
Before Aribo put them ahead in the 38th minute, they had passed up a couple of other decent opportunities. Roofe, looking slightly off the pace, dwelled too long on the ball after being played in by Aribo and was crowded out.
A superb through ball from Barisic then allowed Alfredo Morelos to beat a sloppy offside line by the Antwerp defence and the striker should have done better than drive his shot straight at Alireza Beiranvand.
It was a decent enough save from Antwerp’s Iranian goalkeeper but he was badly at fault when Rangers did make the breakthrough. As he advanced from his line to beat Roofe to a long through ball from Connor Goldson, he spilled it at the feet of Morelos. Beiranvand’s attempt to retrieve the situation saw Morelos tumble and the ball break to Aribo who showed great composure to guide it home from 22 yards.
It seemed as if Gerrard’s men were on course to go in at the break in a hugely satisfying position but things began to unravel when Barisic needlessly conceded a free-kick with a foul on Refaelov. The Israeli playmaker’s free-kick delivery was superb, picking out Avenatti who gave Allan Mcgregor no chance with a precise header.
Four minutes of stoppage time had been added before Roofe became Rangers’ second unwanted casualty of the night, limping off to be replaced by Kent.
An extra seven minutes had been played when referee Georgi Kabakov had no hesitation in pointing to the spot when Refaelov went down theatrically under the slightest of touches from Steven Davis. It looked soft but was enough to also persuade German official Felix Zwayer, the man in charge of VAR who had earlier ruled out a decent Rangers penalty claim for handball against Pieter Gerkens, and Refaelov stepped up to beat Mcgregor convincingly.
If Rangers were feeling a sense of injustice, they utilised it to good effect after the break as they emerged on the front foot and reimposed themselves on an Antwerp side who looked content to try and protect their lead.
Rangers made it 2-2 when a VAR decision finally did go in their favour. Antwerp captain Ritchie De Laet’s blatant tug on the shirt of Morelos as the striker tried to get a header on goal was missed by Kabakov. But after being invited to review the incident on the pitchside monitor, the penalty was awarded and, in the absence of regular taker Tavernier, it was Barisic who stepped up to mark his 100th appearance for Rangers with a goal.
The momentum looked to be firmly with the visitors again but instead they were undone by another uncharacteristically piece of sloppy defen
sive work. Antwerp had too much space and time on the ball as Refaelov laid the ball into the path of Hongla who curled a fine shot beyond Mcgregor’s right hand into the corner of the net from 20 yards.
It was a test of character for Rangers and their response saw them pass it with flying colours. They made it 3-3 in the 83rd minute with a magnificent goal from Kent, the winger playing a one-two with Morelos on the edge of the box and bending a shot beyond substitute goalkeeper Ortwin De Wolf.
It was a scoreline which would have made Rangers firm favourites to complete the job in a week’s time but they probed hungrily for a winner. In the 90th minute, Abdoulaye Seck blocked a Kent shot with a hand. It was a second yellow card of the night for the big defender and Barisic made an even more emphatic conversion with his second spot-kick.
Royal Antwerp: Beiranvand (De Wolf 77), Seck, Le Marchand, De Laet; Buta, Boya (Verstraete 69), Hongla, Lukaku; Refaelov, Gerkens; Avenatti. Subs not used: Chevaughn, Miyoshi, Nsimba, Ampomah, Gelin, Pavlic, Van Den Bosch.
Rangers: Mcgregor, Tavernier (Balogun 25), Goldson, Helander, Barisic; Arfield (Hagi 74), Davis, Kamara (Jack 74); Aribo, Morelos, Roofe (Kent 45+5). Subs not used: Mclaughlin, Itten, Wright, Stewart, Simpson.