RANGERS progressed to the quarter-finals for the first time in 14 years after navigating past Red Star Belgrade in a hostile atmosphere in the Serbian capital.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men were far from their best but they produced another solid European display to prevail 4-2 on aggregate after losing 2-1 on the night.
Using StatsBomb data, The Rangers Review brings you a unique look back at events in Belgrade.
Trendline
The Race Chart shows us Red Star were worthy of their 2-1 victory on the night. Their cumulative xG of 2.20 jumped up from 1.44 when El Fardou Ben dispatched the injury-time penalty. Rangers, on the other hand, created few chances, until Ryan Kent’s equaliser on 56 minutes, their cumulative xG was just 0.09.
If the game was played 100 times, Rangers would emerge victorious on just eight occasions but the majority of the work was carried out at Ibrox the previous week when the Light Blues raced into a three-goal lead. Last night was all about staying compact and resolute and the players carried out the gameplan.
Shot Maps
As we can see, Rangers had seven attempts on the Red Star goal with Alfredo Morelos forcing two comfortable stops out of Milan Borjan while Kemar Roofe also saw an effort saved by the Canadian international.
The goal from Kent was sensational. The illustration above highlights the difficulty of the shot before he struck the ball as it recorded an xG of 0.17, when he hits the ball it increases dramatically to 0.81 although his effort was aided by a deflection, something Kent himself admitted he got a tad fortunate with, he said: “We got a lucky break and I got a bit of luck in the end for my goal.”
He may well have done, but the work leading up to the strike was exceptional.
As we can see, Joe Aribo begins the move on the opposite flank deep in his own half, Glen Kamara, John Lundstram and Ryan Jack are all involved before the ball reaches Kent on the opposite touchline. He then peels away from his man before playing a terrific give-and-go with Kamara before striding downfield and firing Rangers level.
A moment of real magic from a player who continually produces on the big stage.
If we glance over at Red Star’s Shot Map, the Serbian champions had 16 attempts towards goal with Allan McGregor responsible for 11 saves. The 40-year-old kept Rangers in the tie at points and his reflexes are a huge reason they are in the hat for the last-eight.
The opening goal from Mirko Ivanic is interesting. When the ball comes to him, the xG posts just 0.15 and when he hits the shot it decreases even further to just 0.12 which suggests it was an effort that really should’ve been kept out.
Pass Networks
The illustration above tells us Rangers were far from their fluent best on the ball. If we take the second half in isolation we can see the Ibrox side improved on the ball and Kent was their most threatening attacking outlet. Roofe’s introduction was a good one as he posed more of a threat going forward than Morelos.
The Colombian had most touches of the ball than any of his fellow teammates (96) but it was a rare off-night for Rangers record European goalscorer with ball failing to stick at times and often choosing the wrong option. There is a suggestion he may be in need of a rest and with a trip to Dens Park on the horizon, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Roofe replace El Bufalo up top.
Pressure Map
As we can see, a lot of Red Star’s attacking play came down Rangers’ right-hand side. Ivanic and Milan Pavkov linked up well together alongside star man Aleksander Katai and it was an area of the pitch that the likes of James Tavernier, Joe Aribo and often John Lundstram had to press consistently to avoid the Serbian’s the space to penetrate the Rangers defence.
Conclusion
Rangers were far from their best in Belgrade but they had an objective; to progress to the quarter-finals of the Europa League and they successfully achieved their mission. Despite the hostile atmosphere and opposition, the Light Blues turned in another professional performance that we’ve now come to expect on the continent.
It bodes well heading into the last-eight of the competition and there won’t be many teams, if any, that will fancy going up against this well-drilled machine.
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