Stressed up to the nine
Crazy reds put Stevie through wringer but his heroes survive a Russian siege to march on
HE asked for heroes and warriors and was almost undone by one halfwit and another wayward son.
Steven Gerrard had remarkable European successes in his prime but outside a memorable night in Istanbul few would have meant more than this Battle of Bashkortostan.
Nine men somehow held on gloriously, wondrously to survive this siege in the southern Urals and clinch a place in the group stage of the Europa League.
The matchday mascots released a bunch of balloons into the air before kick-off but Rangers kept two of theirs in the starting line-up.
The transfer window closes tonight and if Mark Allen still has the number of Beijing Renhe, Bordeaux or even Dundonald Bluebell he should call them all this morning and cut a deal for Alfredo Morelos. The Colombian striker’s act of utter selfishness and self-interest reduced his team to 10 men just eight minutes before the break and four minutes after the Russians had thrown themselves a lifeline to equalise Ovie Ejaria’s ninth-minute opener.
Jon Flanagan followed him midway through the second half when he led with a meaty forearm on Dmitri Zhivoglyadov, collecting a second yellow against the same player.
The 25-year-old should have been hooked long before then, such was his discomfort on the left.
However, Rangers prevailed on a night in which they conceded their first goal on the road at this level but may just have formed an unbreakable bond of trust among the mainstays.
Morelos owed his mates big time and if he has anything at all in his mental locker – on last night’s show of utter stupidity, you doubt it – he’ll be determined to prove a point at Parkhead if Gerrard trusts him again.
Ivan the Terrible once constructed a fort on the outskirts of this city but it has never seen an onslaught to match the second half of this game as Rangers dug deeper than they thought possible to clinch a famous aggregate victory.
They may have worn a change shirt of white but there was a determination from Connor Goldson and Co never to wave a flag of surrender.
Rangers will bank up to £10million and, sadly, Gerrard’s role in it will be overlooked in the immediate aftermath of yet more indiscipline.
Rangers have now picked up 28 yellow cards this season and four reds and the fledgling boss must get a grip on his side’s crime count.
The bruising aftermath of this match may also have a knock-on effect for the first Old Firm fixture of the season on Sunday but Gerrard’s reputation will hold strong among bluenoses on the back of this stunning achievement.
Only a handful of clubs, including Molde, Maccabi Tel Aviv, and Copenhagen, have made the play-off round from the first qualifying stage and to have done it with 12 new players and a squad that was on its knees just
five months ago is remarkable. It had all looked so straightforward when Rangers applied their first press nine minutes in and instantly prospered.
Daniel Candeias did brilliantly to charge down a clearance and the ball was worked to Ovaria to step in from the left and curl a magnificent right-foot shot high into the net.
But it all turned in a four-minute spell when Dmitri Sysuev equalised after he and Zhivoglyadov had been hanging on the shoulder of Flanagan.
The full-back was exposed, caught flat-footed as the striker wheeled clear to shoot beyond Allan McGregor.
Morelos has long played on the edge but his shameful indiscipline fell over the line and became totally unacceptable as he spat a mouthful of abuse at assistant Mike Pickel after being flagged for a free-kick. Ref Tobias Stieler was on the spot to reach for yellow but when Morelos petulantly reacted to the whistler and then refused to step into his bodyspace for a ticking off, two cautions were correctly administered and the Colombian took a walk.
Gerrard’s reaction said it all. He has long championed his marksman but he stood on the fringes of his technical area and stared straight ahead, refusing to acknowledge a player who had let him down so badly.
The roof threatened to cave in as Sysuev turned James Tavernier on the stroke of half-time before flashing a shot narrowly wide and Sly Igboun also nodded weakly into the side net.
Flanagan’s miserable night ended in 66 minutes when he led with that arm when his team-mates needed calm and the last quarter of the match was spent with Rangers utterly camped at the edge of their 18-yard box. Time and again Ufa were repelled and when Goldson and Nikola Katic were turned, McGregor stood tall. He pushed away a shot by Ondrej Vanek then dived to his right to superbly palm away Igboun’s header.
The Russians threw everything at Gers. Vyacheslav Krotov planted a header on the base of the post that would have made the four minutes of injury time even more agonising.
Ryan Kent had come closer earlier on the counter but Igboun planted another header inches wide and Ivan Oblyakov shot past the post with only McGregor to beat as Rangers held on.
The city of Ufa boasts a train stop on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Gerrard must have been tempted to stop off on route to the airport for the flight home and buy Morelos, in particular, a oneway ticket even further east.