Glasgow Rangers’ of Scotland duo of Joe Aribo and Sheyi Ojo both got high marks for their efforts in action for The Gers on Thursday, as their side romped into the knock-out stage of the UEFA Europa League with a hard-earned 1-1 draw with visiting Young Boys of Switzerland.
Megasportsarena.com gathered that, while Aribo was on for 90 minutes of the encounter at Ibrox, and got seven marks over ten for his battling efforts on the night in Glasgow, Ojo got off the bench to contribute his own quota to the team’s surge, for which he got six points.
Rangers knew they had a job to do and went close to getting the first goal around the 20-minute mark, when good build-up play saw Scott Arfield fire the ball towards goal, but it was deflected behind by Frederik Sorensen.
Not long after, some more sensational Rangers football saw Aribo slot the ball into the path of Morelos, but his strike from close range was pushed away by the feet of David von Ballmoos, as Aribo and his pals held on to finally edge into the last 32 with a late equalizer, despite a red card for one of their players causing a nerve-wracking finish.
Steven Gerrard’s side were looking to overcome their Scottish League Cup final disappointment and showed no ill-effects in the first half as they overran their opponents, with Alfredo Morelos scoring his sixth group-stage goal, but Aribo failed to add to his tally of five.
Young Boys – who came from behind to win 2-1 in the reverse fixture – threatened to spring another surprise in the second half, with a scrambled Borna Barisic own goal hauling the Swiss side level, while The Gers had Ryan Jack sent off for a second yellow card in added time.
Rangers had three glorious chances to double their lead not long after. Von Ballmoos pushed away a stinging effort from Arfield before Aribo twice put the ball wide – one from a header and another with a misplaced shot.
Young Boys also had their best effort of the game on the stroke of half-time, but Christian Fassnacht – who scored the late winner against Rangers in the reverse fixture – could only head Ulisses Garcia’s fizzing cross over the bar.
Aribo and his colleagues, though, managed to hold out for a draw, which was enough to see Rangers into the knockout stages for the first time since 2011, and finishing second behind Porto in Group G, who beat Feyenoord 3-2 in Portugal.
Gerrard said afterwards: “I can’t criticise them. There’s not a high level of European experience in the group. But on the back of a cup final where we put everything into that game and had two days to recover, no-one should understate what they’ve done.
“No-one gave us a chance. I sat in the canteen with the players and squad when the draw was made. It’s going to be very nice to see Rangers in the draw, among some elite teams around Europe. It was an aim and target when I came through the door, get respect back in European competitions. Fans live for this. Getting through gives the club a bit of kudos, for sure.”
