Rangers saw realistic Europa League qualification hopes fade as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Braga, even after the Portuguese side were reduced to 10 men for more than half an hour.
Rangers led when captain James Tavernier converted a penalty, awarded after a VAR-reviewed handball, taking him level with Ally McCoist on 21 European goals. Shortly after Rodrigo Zalazar was sent off following a VAR review for head contact with Nicolas Raskin, Rangers conceded. Nasser Djiga misjudged a cross and Gabri Martinez bundled home at the back post eight minutes after the red card.
Despite having the numerical advantage for much of the second half, Rangers could not find a winner and only managed to hang on to a point. The game ended with Mohamed Diomande receiving a harsh second yellow in added time for an inadvertent elbow.
The draw leaves Danny Röhl’s side fourth bottom of their Europa League group with one point from five games, making progression extremely unlikely with three matches remaining.
Captain James Tavernier told TNT Sports: “It feels like we lost the game because it was in our hands. In the final third we have to be more patient and work it better instead of just shooting when it’s not really on. It’s a lapse in concentration for their goal. It’s a missed opportunity for us. We have to be more clinical in both boxes, but I believe [we’re going in the right direction]. Boys are buying into it. We have to build on this and learn from it.”
Sky Sports’ Adam Binnie at Ibrox summed up the situation: “That’s Rangers now probably out of the Europa League. They’d need to win their final three matches against Ferencvaros, Ludogorets and Porto to even stand a chance. Even then, a measly points tally of 10 is unlikely to secure progression to the play-off round. That wasn’t enough for Braga or Elfsborg to advance from this competition last year, while Dinamo Zagreb were knocked out of the Champions League on 11 points. Five games, zero wins, one point, two goals. Grim for a side who made the quarter-finals just last season.”
Head coach Danny Röhl, speaking to TNT Sports, defended the performance as progress: “Yes, of course, 100 per cent [it’s progress]. For 60 minutes I saw a team who were really competitive against a team who have nine points from four games. We were the better team, we created more chances, we had a lot of ball-winning situations. Of course, we’re disappointed now but it was a huge step forwards in our progress. It was one key moment, a throw-in, we won’t look for excuses but in the second half with the wind it was always difficult. There’s no question mark for me today about our progress, we’ve come from 3-0 and 2-0 [defeats] and today played a good game for 60-65 minutes.”
Rangers will need a strong run in their remaining Europa League fixtures if they are to mount any realistic challenge for qualification.