Hungry strikers give Union food for thought
Double boost for Gio as Colak and Morelos hit goal trail
Giovanni van Bronckhorst received a timely double boost ahead of Tuesday night’s crunch Champions League qualifier against Union Saint-Gilloise.
Two goals down from the first leg in Belgium, the Dutchman knows he’ll need his strikers firing.
So he was delighted that Alfredo Morelos (right), returning to action after five months out with a thigh injury, was on the mark against Kilmarnock.
That was after the under-fire, Antonio Colak – described as “a waste of time” by former striker, Mark Hateley after the defeat in Belgium – scored his first competitive goal for the club.
The Rangers manager said: “I’m happy for my two strikers. It’s always good to have them on the scoresheet.
“It is Alfredo’s first minutes for
Rangers after five months. That’s almost half a year.
“You can see what he brings, not only to the squad but also the way the fans treated him when he came on.
“That is also what you have when he plays, and he is always capable of scoring goals.
“I am sure he will only get stronger with each game.”
RANGERS 2
Colak (51), Morelos (88) KILMARNOCK 0
Giovanni van Bronckhorst praised Alfredo Morelos’ scoring return to the Rangers team and vowed he will only get stronger with time.
Morelos came off the bench after 62 minutes with the Ibrox side leading Kilmarnock thanks to Antonio Colak’s first strike for the club.
And the Colombian showed he had lost none of his striking instincts after five months on the sidelines by bagging the second goal two minutes from time.
Rangers now head into the second leg of their crunch Champions League qualifier against Union Saint-Gilloise on Tuesday night needing to overturn a two-goal deficit.
And van Bronckhorst was delighted to see both his front men warm up for that challenge by getting off the mark for the season.
The Gers manager said: “I’m happy for my two strikers, Antonio’s first goal and Morelos scoring as well. So that’s always good to have them on the scoresheet.
“It is Alfredo’s first minutes for Rangers after five months. If you think about it, it is a really long time.
“It was good to have him in the squad. You can see what he brings, not only to the squad but also the way the fans treated him when he came on.
“That is also what you have when he plays and he is always capable of scoring goals. For him, I think these first minutes of the season after five months were very important and I am sure he will only get stronger with each game that he is going to be involved in.”
There was a Rangers start here for full-back Ridvan Yilmaz while Steve Davis also returned to the team.
There was no sign of Ryan Kent, however, or John Souttar, the latter missing out just two days after the
funeral of brother Aaron who passed away after a battle with motor neurone disease.
Rangers were hoping for a straightforward afternoon ahead of their big European date but Killie didn’t make it easy for them.
A brilliant block by Ash Taylor kept out Malik Tillman’s early effort before Colak dragged a shot wide of the far post.
James Tavernier, looking to reprise his heroics from last weekend’s win at Livingston, then sent his free-kick high into the stand.
Rangers kept up the pressure and finally called Sam Walker in the Killie goal into a save as he moved well to push away Scott Wright’s deflected effort.
Walker, though, was beaten all ends up later in the half when Tom Lawrence launched a spectacular effort that cracked against the top of the crossbar.
Killie then passed up a great chance to get their noses in front. Fraser Murray’s free-kick was nodded on to Taylor at the back post but the former Aberdeen stopper couldn’t keep his header down.
Rangers were soon back on the front foot but struggling to break down the visiting defence.
Connor Goldson had a bash but could only find the side netting while Wright had another effort that was comfortably plucked out of the air by Walker.
It seemed increasingly likely that Morelos was going to be called upon sooner rather than later but Colak’s strike after just six minutes of the restart changed the entire mood around Ibrox.
The Croatian worked a clever 1-2 with Lawrence before drilling a low shot past Walker and into the far corner to get his Rangers career off and running.
It also served to ease any pressure on Morelos who appeared after 62 minutes as part of a triple substitution.
And he gave the fans what they wanted by turning in Rabbi Matondo’s cross at the back post from close range.
Killie manager Derek McInnes had no complaints about the result.
He said: “I’m disappointed we didn’t manage to do more in possession in the first half but our season won’t be defined by playing Rangers at Ibrox.”