Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
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History making Alfredo continues personal rampage through Europe
ALFREDO MORELOS wrote his name into the Rangers record books but his 22nd European goal was not enough to daze 10-man Benfica after a 3-3 draw at the Estadio da Luz.
The Colombian was celebrating as he put Steven Gerrard’s team 3-1 up in Lisbon, moving him past the club benchmark previously set by Ibrox great Ally Mccoist.
But Gers switched off in the final 13 minutes and paid the price as Rafa Silva netted before substitute Darwin Nunez fired home an injurytime equaliser.
The Light Blues fell behind just 60 seconds in when Connor Goldson put through his own net, but the game looked to have turned dramatical ly in th eir favour when former Manchester City defender Nicolas Otamendi was sent off for tripping Ryan Kent as he burst clear.
Maestro Steven Davis now had the space he needed to clip the Eagles’ wings with his killer passes and six minutes later he orchestrated the e q u a l i s e r, sliding a sublime ball in behind for James Tavernier.
The ball was fizzed across goal, catching out Goncalves who fired into his own net.
If the first two goals were on the ugly side, the next just a minute later was a thing of beauty.
Rangers worked the ball from their own box out to Morelos on the right flank.
T h e C o l o m b i a n’s cross-field pass found
Glen Kamara and with Borna Barisic’s run down the left opening up space, the Finn had all the time he needed to drill past Odysseas Vlachodimos at the near post.
Joe Aribo saw a header squirm wide from a delicious Barisic cross, while Vertonghen had to make a last-ditch tackle to deny Morelos just before the break.
But the striker only had to wait six minutes after the break to net his historic goal as Tavernier ghosted down the right before laying the ball on a plate at the back post for Morelos to move past Mccoist’s record of 21 European strikes.
Benfica had a let-off when Kent struck the p o st but found th e lifeline they longed for with 13 minutes left when substitute Nunez rounded Mcgregor to tee up Silva.
It a p p e a re d Ge r s would see out the final stages but, with just moments remaining, Waldschmidt spotted a gap in Gerrard’s defence and Nunez raced through to steal a point.