Barry Ferguson’s Rangers are still, just about, alive in this season’s Europa League.
Before kick-off, most would’ve agreed that the Ibrox outfit required a win at home to stand a realistic chance of reaching the semi-finals.
Well, when referee István Kovács blew for full-time following a whopping 12 minutes of injury time, the Ibrox faithful celebrated the 0-0 draw with Athletic Bilbao like a victory, and with good reason.
This stalemate means the Light Blues will travel to the Basque Country next Thursday with a fighting chance of keeping this continental adventure going but it wasn’t without its stresses, that’s for sure.
Was Robin Pröpper's red card justified?
The primary reason why Rangers supporters and players alike were delighted with this first-leg goalless draw is because centre-back Robin Pröpper was sent off after just 12 minutes.
Following video review, the referee deemed that the Dutch defender had denied a clear goal-scoring opportunity when he, rather aggressively, brought down Inaki Williams on the edge of the penalty area.
Speaking during commentary on TNT Sports, Rangers legend Ally McCoist, fair to say, did not agree with this decision, describing the red card as “really harsh”, adding “he’s gone to try and win the ball… he’s been beaten by a bit of skill”.
Pröpper was only starting as a result of John Souttar’s suspension due to yellow card accumulation, meaning the Scotland international will be available to return at the heart of the Rangers’ defence in Bilbao next Thursday.
This though, is not the Dutchman’s first mishap; Aaron Nijjar of Football Insider claims his ‘performances have been marked by uncertainty’ since joining from Twente last summer.
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Not everyone in Blue performed badly…
Rangers' hero against Bilbao
The headline team news ahead of Thursday’s first leg came in goal where, following a string of error-stricken performances, Jack Butland had been dropped, with Liam Kelly donning the gloves instead.
Well, fair to say the 29-year-old repaid his manager’s faith, accumulating three high claims and making three saves, preventing an xG figure of 1.84, a large proportion of which is thanks to his penalty save late on.
As outlined by Will Unwin of the Guardian, everyone inside Ibrox ‘was confused’ when Athletic had a goal ruled out for offside, only for a penalty to be awarded instead; Dujon Sterling penalised for handball, and this one was rather harsh.
Álex Berenguer who, four and a half minutes earlier, had been celebrating in front of the 3,000 traveling Athletic supporters, elected to smash his spot-kick down the middle, only for Kelly to stick out his right boot and make a remarkable save, sparking wild scenes of celebration.
So, while Kelly was the hero, his teammate up the other end of the park did not cover himself in glory.
Rangers' frustrating front-man
Rangers assistant manager Neil McCann himself admitted last week that Cyriel Dessers ‘will always divide opinion’, which is probably a bit of an understatement if we’re honest.
Scott Bradley of Breaking The Lines describes the Nigerian as the “most frustrating player” he’s ever seen in a Rangers jersey, and Dessers did not star on Thursday, accumulating just 18 touches – fewer than the aforementioned Kelly (44) – losing possession seven times, registering just four passes and firing both of his attempts off target, albeit in difficult circumstances.
Dessers has, in fairness, been in fantastic form since Ferguson took over as interim manager, scoring five goals in eight appearances, most notably on target during the famous 3-1 victory over Fenerbahçe in İstanbul.
Nevertheless, despite the fact his centre-forward was clearly exhausted, Ferguson waited until the 85th minute before introducing Hamza Igamane.
This change surely should’ve been made earlier, with the Moroccan possibly even deserving to start in Bilbao, as these statistics underline.
Appearances
48
39
Minutes
2,892
2.277
Goals
23
14
Assists
7
3
Europa League goals
3
4
Minutes per goal
126
163
Goals – xG (UEL only)
-2.3
+2.8
Big chances missed
26
5
The two statistics that jump off the page from the table above are big chances missed, Dessers have racked up a staggering 26 across the Europa League and Premiership this season, as well as the goals – xG.
In this season’s Europa League, only Malick Fofana of Olympique Lyonnais can boast a better goals – xG figure than Igamane, while only five players rank below Dessers for the same metric.
Thus, looking ahead of next Thursday’s mouthwatering return leg at San Mamés, it’s clear that Igamane is the better option to start at centre-forward.
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