Why Rangers' Connor Goldson didn't clear his lines during Frankfurt equaliser

And although no Rangers player scored an own goal or, as was the case for Joe Aribo’s opener on the night, made a seismic error to all but grant the opposition a goal, the concession of Rafael Borre’s equaliser will likely occupy the minds of all involved for years to come.

It was a moment of German incision and speed in a game consumed by Seville’s sweltering heat and humidity and earned Oliver Glasner’s side the penalty kicks they needed to win. Having established a lead through Aribo, Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side resisted the urge to drop back and protect their one-goal advantage, instead continuing in the 4-3-3 shape they’d started the game with.

As possession is thrown backwards in the lead up to Borre’s strike, Glen Kamara moves to close down Djibril Sow while Scott Wright confronts the thrower, Filip Kostic.

Sow does well to shift beyond Kamara, who in making up ground to reach the wing starts his duel at a disadvantage, which forces Wright to take a step back to block a route through the pitch. 

In turn, that provides Kostic with the necessary separation to deliver a cross that became an assist. Wright should arguably get tighter in this situation to make life more uncomfortable for his opponent.

With Kostic loading up to cross in the below frame, notice the position of eventual goalscorer Borre. Wrestling with Calvin Bassey, he appears to deliberately move backwards in order to create the space from which he will soon score.

By creating this space between the two centre-backs, Borre is able to build momentum over a few yards which enables his dart to the front post.

Borre uses a duel with Bassey to propel his weight forward and attacks the front post where a low, driven cross has been targeted.

READ MORE: Rangers' extra-time renaissance falls short as Ryan Kent passes up glorious final opportunity

Connor Goldson has faced heavy criticism for his role in this concession. Upon closer inspection, there may well be an explanation for his lack of a clearance.

The vice-captain appears ever so slightly in front of the ball, meaning he has to take a step back as seen in the below image rather than simply swing his boot at the cross to clear.

With the ball just about to bypass his area, Goldson’s right foot is planted rather than ready to engage the cross, perhaps because he has had to move backwards and given the quality and pace of Kostic’s cross, the defender has his positioning exposed.

Fatally for Rangers, Borre has just managed to evade the clutches of Bassey and throwing himself at the ball, can convert from close range.

As a duo, the centre-backs shouldn’t have been beaten by Frankfurt’s Colombian forward. His finish was clinical, turning an xG (expected goals) chance of 0.34 to a PSxG (Post-Shot xG which considers the quality of the shot) of 0.58.

Moments didn’t go Rangers’ way in Spain, either by design, luck or delivery. Ryan Kent hit the goalkeeper instead of the net late on, the hair of a Frankfurt defender stopped Steven Davis from finding a corner in the same sequence.

Football matches are dictated by such eventualities that stopped this squad from fulfilling a European destiny that was so nearly realised.