RESOLUTE RANGERS REFUSE TO BUCKLE
Gerrard’s warriors hold tight despite Morelos and Flanagan sending-offs
SOMEHOW the nine men made it over the line. And with a goal to spare. Of all the ways to reach the Europa League group stage, Steven Gerrard could never have imagined it being quite like this.
A man down after 37 minutes thanks to the reckless petulance of Alfredo Morelos — with the score already 1-1 — Rangers were a team under immense pressure on an extraordinary evening inside the Neftyanik Stadium.
When Jon Flanagan became the second Ibrox player dismissed by German referee Tobias Stieler, there were still 24 minutes to play. The roof threaten to cave in on the visitors.
But it didn’t. Those left behind to fight on redoubled their efforts to stand firm, protecting the superbly-taken Ovie Ejaria away goal that meant Ufa needed a 3-1 victory.
When the defence was breached, the evergreen Allan McGregor provided relief with a couple of impressive late saves.
The sound of the final whistle brought joy and relief in equal measure. It had been an exhibition of sheer, bloody-minded defiance. Gerrard’s call for ‘heroes and warriors’ was answered by a depleted battalion.
Rangers will now learn their group-stage opponents in today’s draw and can look forward to a £6million financial boost. For Gerrard (right), progression fulfils one of the season’s primary aims and provides his tenure with an early hallmark of success. What it did to his nerves is, however, another matter entirely.
Watching Morelos pick up two bookings for dissent in the space of a few seconds was not in any script. That act of selfishness from the Colombian striker could have had grave consequences for his colleagues. He owes each and every one of them a grovelling vote of thanks.
Flanagan’s sending-off — for fouls in each half on Dmitri Zhivoglyadov — was more explainable but it left Gerrard’s men in a hugely perilous position. Seeing it out spoke of the character developing within their ranks.
Coming through four qualifying rounds is a hugely significant achievement. There is a reason so few teams have gone the full distance to the current UEFA format.
For Rangers, the prize is the return of group-stage European football to Ibrox for the first time in eight years.
After leaking three goals at Fir Park on Sunday when deploying a 3-5-2 set-up, albeit that tactics were not behind those concessions, Gerrard reverted to a system more familiar over his previous 11 games in charge. An identical starting line-up to the 1-0 first-leg win was deployed in a 4-3-3 shape. Achieving an identical outcome was the obvious target.
Rangers sought to make their presence felt straight away. Pressing high up the field, they initially exuded energy and aggression. It was an attitude that brought a reward inside ten minutes.
Morelos led the hunt. Hustling away at the heels of Jemal Tabidze, he forced the Ufa centre-back to give up possession. From there, play was shuttled left for the over-lapping Flanagan, whose bobbling cross was only halfcleared by Ionut Nedelcearu. It fell to Ejaria just inside the penalty area. One swivel of his tall frame shifted the ball on to his right foot before a terrific, curling finish was swept beyond a helpless Aleksandr Belenov. That second goal in two games from the increasingly impressive Liverpool loanee prompted the Rangers bench to spill forward in delight. Gerrard clenched both fists in celebration, a roar of ‘get in’ audible above the stunned mutterings of the home support. It was the perfect start. But the sense of comfort quickly faded. Flanagan was booked for hauling down Zhivoglyadov — which would later prove costly — before Ufa offered their first genuine threat. Sylvester Igboun drove in behind Connor Goldson to send a lob across the face of goal. Zhivoglyadov returned it with a low thump that was blocked by the tangled legs of Goldson and Dmitri Sysuev. Ejaria then saw another clever attempt deflected wide, but the momentum had shifted. Ufa were gaining plentiful joy attacking the left side of the Rangers defence and it was from that route that the 32nd-minute equaliser arrived. A long ball forward from Nedelcearu sent Sysuev clear behind Flanagan, with appeals for an offside flag going unanswered. The fair-haired forward advanced before coolly angling a finish past McGregor and into the far corner of the net. Rangers looked stretched now. Their early authority had gone. Goldson had to clear a Zhivoglyadov cross as Ufa began to turn the screw.
It was time to pull together and see it through. The last thing Gerrard needed was any wild indiscipline. But then came Morelos and his moment of stupidity.
Adjudged to have fouled Bojan Jokic in midfield, the Colombian booted the ball away to ensure a first booking was on its way. Having already unloaded on assistant referee Mike Pickel, he continued his dissent towards Stieler to earn a second booking within the space of a few seconds.
True, not every official would have reacted as strongly as Stieler did, but it was still an incredible example of self-inflicted harm. And one that brings back to the fore questions about Morelos’ temperament after his rescinded red card against Aberdeen on the opening day of the Premiership season.
Ufa were energised by the dismissal. Sysuev drilled wide of target before Igboun headed into the side-netting.
Gerrard replaced Daniel Candeias with Kyle Lafferty to try and restore an attacking focal point for the second half. And a break forward very nearly delivered a second goal four minutes after the restart.
Lafferty provided the decoy run as Ryan Kent scampered forward, cutting on to his right foot to unleash a deflected shot that drew an outstanding save from Belenov. Within seconds, however, Ufa were back on the front foot and Sysuev had fired over the bar.
An even better opportunity was spurned by substitute Ivan Oblyakov’s wayward drive before the hosts were given a two-man advantage in the 66th minute.
Flanagan was penalised for an aerial challenge on Zhivoglyadov to earn a second booking. He bitterly complained to the fourth official as he made the same sorry walk as Morelos.
Inevitably, the tension was cranked up even further. McGregor parried from Ondrej Vanek before pulling out an even better stop to deny Igboun.
A Vyacheslav Krotov effort then clipped the post. And there was time for one final scare. But when Tabidze’s injury-time header was ruled out for a foul on Ejaria, Rangers were safe.