Rangers kept their Champions League dream alive after they battled their way to a 1-1 draw against FC Porto.
It was just the kind of result that boss Alex McLeish needed as he fights for his Ibrox career. He is now on the verge of making history as the first manager of a Scottish team to qualify for the second phase of the Champions League.
Rangers just need 1 point in their final game against Inter Milan who themselves secured their qualification tonight by beating Artmedia 4-0 in the San Siro. Rangers are guaranteed to at least be in the UEFA Cup after Christmas but they will be desperate to go one step further and get through to the second phase of the Champions League. They could actually LOSE against Inter and still qualify if Porto and Artmedia draw.
It was backs to the wall stuff for Rangers tonight as Porto attacked them right from the off. Rangers didn’t even register a single shot at goal in the first half as the faced an onslaught from the determined Porto.
Ranger?s goal was under attack right from the start and as early as first minute Ricardo Quaresma curled a shot towards goal but Waterreus made the save. Porto had several chances in the first half but Rangers somehow managed to get to half-time with the score 0-0.
It was more of the same after the break, the goal was inevitable and sure enough it came in the 60th minute through Lisandro Lopez. Jose Bosingwa delivered an inch perfect cross into the box and Lopez got on the end of it with his head leaving Waterreus no chance.
Rangers tried to attack a bit more but couldn’t make any significant progress and Alex McLeish decided to change things by bringing on youngsters Ross McCormack and Chris Burke, it was the last throw of the dice for McLeish and at last it paid off for him, he deserves a reward for the pressure he was under and he got it.
Chris Burke managed to keep in a lose ball that looked like it was going out for a goal kick and it found it’s way to McCormack who drilled the shot home and sent the travelling Rangers fans into a frenzy.
The relief on the Rangers bench was there for all to see and it was like someone lifted a giant weight of the shoulders of Alex Mcleish. It wasn’t all over yet though and Rangers still had seven minutes to hold out for the draw.
Porto predictably went for all out attack on Rangers as their qualification hopes were hanging by a thread. Their pressure nearly paid off near the end when they nearly scored in a goalmouth scramble but a superb double save from Ronald Waterreus saved the day.
Player Ratings
Ronald Waterreus 8/10
Owed Rangers a big performance after his Artmedia nightmare and he gave them it. Superb double save at the end could be worth so much for the team.
Fernando Ricksen 7/10
Moved back to right back at the expense of Hutton and put in a good shift.
Marvin Andrews 9/10
An absolute rock in the defence and proved he should be in the team ahead of Rodriguez when he is fit again.
Soti Kyrgiakos 8/10
Another candidate for man of the match but just pipped by Andrews. A brilliant performance from the Greek.
Ian Murray 7/10
A better performance from him, he has been off the boil in recent weeks but came good in this game.
Hamed Namouchi 4/10
Non existent.
Brahim Hemdani 6/10
Done a good enough job of helping out the defence.
Barry Ferguson 6/10
Quiet but effective performance from the skipper.
Alex Rae 6/10
A commited performance.
Peter Lovenkrands 5/10
Surprise inclusion considering McLeish’s game plan. Didn’t do much although did show a bit of spirit.
Francis Jeffers 3/10
Preferred to Steven Thompson up front but did nothing.
Steven Thompson 4/10
Put in a good shift.
Ross McCormack 7/10
A breath of fresh air and scored the equaliser.
Brilliant work to set up the goal.
Manager Rating
Alex McLeish 8/10 – A man fighting for his job but he at last managed to get a fighting performance from his team. I’m pleased for him tonight.
Opponent Rating
Co Adriaanse 6/10 – Sent his team out to attack but was frustrated by Rangers gameplan.