RANGERS are away at Royal Antwerp in the first leg of the Europa League.
The Gers go into the last-32 match in fine mood, having won four of their last five games.
Antwerp boss Franky Vercauteren admits his side are down to the bare bones ahead of Thursday’s Europa League showdown with Rangers, with five players definitely out and a further two doubtful.
Steven Gerrard’s side are hot favourites to progress into the Last 16 of the competition after a near-flawless run so far.
- Royal Antwerp vs Rangers is live on BT Sport 3.
- You can live stream the game on the BT app if you subscribe to the channel.
- EE customers can get BT Sport INCLUDED to their plan at no extra cost if they are on a plan with Smart Benefits – simply log in to EE and choose BT Sport app.
- And then get it on the big screen by texting SPORT to 150 to get a FREE three-month trial of Large Screen so you can cast all the action on your TV.
- Antwerp XI: Beiranvand, Seck, Le Marchand, De Laet, Buta, Hongla, Boya, Lukaku, Gerkens, Refaelov, Avenatti
- Rangers XI: McGregor, Tavernier, Goldson, Helander, Barisic, Davies, Kamara, Aribo, Roofe, Morelos, Arfield
THAT’S ALL FOLKS
A 4-3 lead Rangers will have in next week’s return leg at Ibrox.
By then, we’ll know the extent of the Tavernier and Roofe’s injuries too.
But tonight was all about getting the win and they will be very warm favourites to see it through now.
Reaction continues on the Scottish Sun Football page.
The links are below. Thanks for following a bonkers European night! Goodnight!
Scottish Sun Football page 👉 CLICK HERE
Match Report 👉 CLICK HERE
Man-bys 👉 CLICK HERE
More from Steven Gerrard 👉 CLICK HERE
BORNA BARISIC 100 CLUB
Barisic came up trumps with two goals in the second-half on his 100th Rangers appearance.
With Tavernier likely to be missing in the coming weeks, the Croatian’s outlet is likely to be more needed than ever.
But what a way to bring up the century!
MAN-BYS
A look at how the Rangers players scored for their performance tonight.
Our man Andy Devlin runs the rule over tonight’s victors.
ALLAN McGREGOR: Well beaten by Avenatti’s looping header and although he went the right way, couldn’t get a hand to Refaelov’s penalty. Made two brilliant late saves to deny Antwerp on a truly bonkers night in Belgium….7.
JAMES TAVERNIER: The Rangers captain hobbled out of the action with just 23 minutes gone. The full-back injured his knee in a collision with Martin Hongla. He initially tried to play on, but had to be replaced. A penny for Nathan Patterson’s thoughts? 3.
CONNOR GOLDSON: Stunning diagonal ball pierced the Antwerp defence and forced keeper Alierza Beiranvand into a catastrophic mistake. Threw himself at Hongla’s effort, the shot taking a slight nick off the Gers defender…7.
FIL HELANDER: Won his fair share of headers, but he was part of a defence that shipped three goals on the night. Like a lot of the players, he seemed to struggle with his footing, slipping and sliding on several occasions…6.
BORNA BARISIC: The Croat was making his 100th appearance for Gers. Was caught wrong side of Avenatti as Antwerp cancelled out Aribo’s opener. Showed tremendous character to step up and twice score from the spot…7.
GLEN KAMARA: Sensational turn down at the corner flag carved out a first half opening for Roofe. Drifted in and out of the action and while he was more of a presence after the break the midfielder was still not at his best….6.
STEVEN DAVIS: The Ulsterman was making his 50th European appearance for Rangers. Couldn’t believe when referee Georgi Kabakov gave a penalty against him. It was an extremely harsh decision, coming SIX minutes into first half stoppage time…7.
SCOTT ARFIELD: Understandably the pace of the game proved considerable for a player making his first start since Boxing Day. Picked up a ridiculous booking, but he gave absolutely everything as you would expect…..6.
JOE ARIBO: Grabbed the opening goal – Rangers’ 100th of the season – in this astonishing match. Showed tremendous composure to calmly bend the ball into the net after Beiranvand’s howler. Went close twice after the break…6.
KEMAR ROOFE: Another Rangers player forced off before half-time. Seemed to injure his calf when stretching for the ball. The striker is suspended for the weekend so has time to recover ahead of next week’s Ibrox return…4.
ALFREDO MORELOS: Missed a glorious chance in the first half after latching onto Barisic through ball. Won the second half penalty which Barisic converted and was instrumental again in Rangers’ third, teeing up Kent superbly…7.
SUBS
LEON BALOGUN: Drafted in at right-back when Tavernier went off injured. Didn’t provide the same attacking threat as his skipper but did okay….5.
RYAN KENT: Scored the third and then won the penalty that made it 4-3 to Rangers. Incredible impact off the bench….6.
RYAN JACK: Brilliant goalline clearance after replacing Arfield…5.
IANIS HAGI: Should have scored with his first touch. Got ahead of his man at the near post to connect with Barisic’s cross. Could only steer his shot wide when it looked easier to score…3.
GERRARD ON THE INJURIES
Gerrard says it’s another calf injury for Kemar Roofe and they will investigate it. He also remains worried over James Tavernier’s injury.
Kemar has another calf injury. That is a concern as he’s getting too many of them at the moment. We are going to have to look into that and see the right people. He’s very down and frustrated and it’s a blow for us. James coming off too as he never comes off. So that worries me as well. We’ll analyse them over the next couple of days and hopefully they aren’t as bad as first feared.
Steven Gerrard
GERRARD CONTINUED
I thought we didn’t play the first half at full throttle, both with the ball and without.
I felt we had good opportunities to go and hurt this team that we didn’t take on.
Out of possession we were slow and lethargic.
We asked the boys to give more in the second-half.
We have put ourselves in a good position.Steven Gerrard
STEVEN GERRARD REACTION
Steven Gerrard wasn’t happy conceding three times in Europe again but gave his side credit for winning the leg.
I’m just waiting on the heart rate to come down!
It was a fantastic game for the neutral but from a manager’s point of view there is plenty to analyse.
From a defensive point of view we haven’t been at our best and we have conceded three goals for the second time at this level.
That tells me there’s a lot of work to do on organisation.
But it’s very difficult to win on the road in Europe so I have to give the boys credit for winning the game.Steven Gerrard
HERE COMES GERRARD
MATCH REPORT
While we wait for Steven Gerrard’s thoughts, why not have a run through our match report?
We have goal highlights to watch back again as well as all the main talking points.
Head over to the Scottish Sun Football page.
Or click right here 👉 ANTWERP 3 RANGERS 4
FT: ROYAL ANTWERP 3-4 RANGERS
Possession stats over the 90 minutes
DAVIS REACTS
Steven Davis says it is difficult to sum up the rollercoaster of a game.
It was a bit of a rollercoaster and it’s difficult to sum up what I thought of the match.
In the first-half it didn’t feel like we were quite at it, second-half we thought we would get chances and that proved to be the case.
To concede two goals in quick succession was disappointing, especially from a set-piece and the penalty.
But the most important thing was the reaction there.
At the time I thought it was soft and the lad played for it. Luckily we went on to create chances ourselves and go on and get the win.Steven Davis
FT: ROYAL ANTWERP 3-4 RANGERS
The stats behind the 90 minutes.
Double the shots from Rangers.
FT: ROYAL ANTWERP 3-4 RANGERS
Where do you start with that?
Rangers took the lead, then fell behind, drew level, fell behind then went on to win, simple as that.
An astounding second-half that seen penalties, goals and red cards.
The worry for Rangers were the injuries to Tavernier and Roofe, while Kent hobbled off holding his back with the physio at the whistle.
A moment of magic from Kent got Rangers level after they fell behind again in the second-half.
Barisic with two goals – from the spot – on his 100th appearance for the side.
Crazy game. Reaction to come.
WHAT A GAME IN BELGIUM!
ROYAL ANTWERP 3-4 RANGERS
PEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
ROYAL ANTWERP 3-4 RANGERS
Free-kick Rangers deep in the Antwerp half is overhit and Balogun and Lukaku race to keep it in.
Lukaku nudges Balogun into the advertising boards…he knows what he was doing there.
The referee decides not to book him.
ROYAL ANTWERP 3-4 RANGERS
Barisic not too pleased with de Wolf as he smashed his penalty home.
ROYAL ANTWERP 3-4 RANGERS
90+4′ Miyoshi’s first involvement as he gets the ball 25 yards from goal.
He works it onto his left foot before firing a shot that beats Allan McGregor and clips the outside of the post!
ROYAL ANTWERP 3-4 RANGERS
ANTWERP HIT THE POST!
ROYAL ANTWERP 3-4 RANGERS
90+3′ Kent goes away down the left and squares de Laet up before overrunning it to the keeper.
ROYAL ANTWERP 3-4 RANGERS
The Ryan Kent goal
ROYAL ANTWERP 3-4 RANGERS
Triple change for the hosts in stoppage time
- OFF – Hongla, Gerkens and Rafaelov
- ON – Nsimba, Gelin and Miyoshi
ROYAL ANTWERP 3-4 RANGERS
SIX MINUTES ADDED ON AT THE END
BARISIC FINDS THE TOP CORNER
GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLL!!!!
ROYAL ANTWERP 3-3 RANGERS
VAR CHECK IS OVER – PENALTY STANDS
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
