Glasgow Rangers of Scotland defender, Leon Aderemi Balogun made news again on Thursday, as he scored a dramatic goal for his club in the UEFA Europa League, megasportsarena.com reports.
It came just three weeks after he celebrated netting his first goal in seven years’ when he notched one for the Super Eagles in a 2-0 win away to Central African Republic in the World Cup qualifiers.
This time out it was at club level, as first half goals from Balogun and Kemar Roofe saw Rangers beat Brondby of Denmark 2-0 at Ibrox Stadium.
A powerful header from Balogun marked The Gers’ first goal in this season’s competition and help the Glasgow-based side keep alive their hopes of progressing to the knockout stages of the Europa League.
Rangers had lost their opening two Group A matches, making this a vital clash for Steven Gerrard’s side, who made the perfect start when Balogun gave them an 18th-minute lead and they went on to snatch their first points of the series.
Before kick-off, Gerrard had labeled this a must-win encounter and that is exactly what his team did after a thorough display at Ibrox that keeps alive their hopes of playing European football in the second half of the season.
It helped that the home team went ahead early on when Balogun escaped his marker to meet James Tavernier’s inviting corner from the right, taken by the Rangers captain despite being showered with objects thrown by the visiting Brondby fans situated in that part of the ground.
Tavernier had the last laugh, though, as Balogun’s thumping header could not be kept out by Thomas Mikkelsen, despite the Brondby goalkeeper getting strong hands to the ball, and soon Rangers had doubled their lead.
Things got even better on the half-hour mark when Roofe tapped home after Alfredo Morelos’ close-range header had been saved.
However, Rangers needed the intervention of Video Assistant to confirm that goal after it had initially been ruled out by the referee’s assistant.
Joe Aribo, who ended the night as man of the match, also starred from the start for the hosts, while Calvin Bassey played as a substitute and they combined to help Rangers move to third in the group at the halfway stage.
Aribo first got into the highlights when he got free down the right, before crossing, and despite Mikkelsen doing brilliantly to keep out Morelos’ close-range header.
There was Roofe sniffing around in the right place, at the right time, to tuck home the rebound for his 25th goal in just 49 Rangers appearances.
Later on, though, VAR ruled against them after Aribo had seemingly been felled in the box, while Scott Arfield also hit the bar late on after being set up by fellow substitute Scott Wright
Nonetheless, The Gers now stand just a point behind Sparta Prague of Czech Republic in second place, ahead of their reverse fixture away to Brondby on November 4.
