NEW BOYS IN THE FREY FOR VITAL POINT!
MARTI Cifuentes hailed the “fantastic” impact of new signings Michael Frey and Lucas Andersen as they combined to salvage a point against Norwich City.
Swiss striker Frey headed in a cross from fellow sub Andersen in the 77th minute. Rangers had led at half-time through Jack Colback’s 27th minute strike, only for the Canaries to hit back through Kenny McLean and Josh Sargent after the break.
As well as the substitutes, loan signings Issac Hayden and Joe Hodge also impressed in midfield, giving boss Cifuentes plenty of encouragement in the battle to avoid relegation.
He said: “I’m very happy for the new players. All of them are showing they are great professionals. The assist from Lucas to Frey was brilliant.
“They need match fitness, but they’ve shown fantastic performances and I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do together with the rest of the guys.
“We definitely feel like we’re stronger than we were before.”
He added: “I can never be happy with just a point, but we played against a strong team that scored two quality goals.
“We managed to have good moments and I want to praise the attitude and the mentality of the guys.”
Rangers started the better side, with Hodge shooting narrowly wide from distance, while Chris Willock should have done better when he fired straight at Angus Gunn from inside the six-yard box. A Borja Sainz shot flashed just past a post for Norwich’s best chance before Colback opened the scoring. Gunn palmed Willock’s right-wing cross only as far as Colback and the midfielder fired in his third goal of the season.
Norwich came racing out of the traps after half-time and levelled in the 48th minute when McLean escaped his marker to tap in a short corner past the leaden-footed Asmir Begovic.
Norwich boss David WagPicking ner introduced the exciting Jonathan Rowe in the 59th minute and he made an immediate impact by setting up the move that led to a second goal.
Rowe picked out Jack Stacey on the right after a good run from midfield and the full-back swung in a perfect cross to find Sargent, who rose above the defence to head past Begovic and give the visitors a 62nd-minute lead. The goal stunned the sell-out home crowd and it was Norwich who looked the more likely to go on and win the game, with Ashley Barnes and Onel Hernandez shooting wide.
But it was the introduction of new signings Frey and Andersen from the bench that got Rangers back on level terms in the 77th minute.
up the ball on the right flank from a throw-in, Denmark international Andersen, who only joined the club on Monday, rolled a smart pass into the box and Frey held off Ben Gibson to divert the ball past Gunn.
Norwich pushed hard for a winner and Begovic made a vital stop with his body to deny Barnes as he bore down on goal.