Rangers have progressed to the Europa League quarter-finals after beating Red Star Belgrade 4-2 on aggregate in the last 16.
Despite losing 2-1 in the second leg held in Serbia on Thursday night, the Scottish giants have done enough to reach the last eight for the first time in 14 years, and their name will be in the hat for tomorrow's draw.
After securing a comfortable 3-0 first-leg victory at Ibrox last week, Rangers were full of confidence heading to Belgrade, but they did not get off to the best of starts.
The Gers were caught napping at a corner in the 10th minute which resulted in Mirko Ivanic smashing the ball in from close range to put the hosts in front.
Red Star put Rangers under pressure for large proportions of the first half and they had a number of chances to score a second, but goalkeeper Allan McGregor was to thank for keeping the visitors in the tie.
The 40-year-old, who was featuring in his 99th European game for Rangers, made four crucial first-half saves, including a brilliant right-handed stop just before the break, tipping Cristiano Piccini's curling effort over the crossbar.
The Famous Glasgow Rangers 💪 pic.twitter.com/LR7lqE7SnU
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) March 17, 2022
Poor decision making in the final third will have been a cause for concern for Giovanni van Bronckhorst heading into half time, but in the second half, Rangers found their clinical touch with Ryan Kent equalising in the 55th minute.
An excellent counter-attacking move saw Glen Kamara flick the ball into the patch of Kent, who drove at the Red Star backline before watching his deflected strike glide over goalkeeper Milan Borjan.
After Alfredo Morelos went off injured in the final 10 minutes, his replacement Kemar Roofe had the chance to put the Gers in front on the night, but his right-footed effort, hard and low towards the near post, was saved well by Borjan.
In the 93rd minute, Red Star were then awarded a penalty after Kamara caught Filippo Falco on his toe. El Fardou Ben stepped up and sent McGregor the wrong way, but it was only a consolation for the hosts.
As the full time whistle blew, there were a few unsavoury scenes on the pitch, with the Red Star squad seemingly unhappy with Rangers' celebrations, but nevertheless, Van Bronckhorst's men finished the job in Belgrade and will be competing in the quarter-finals for the first time since 2008, when they went all the way to the UEFA Cup final.
Oliver Thomas
