Rangers took to the Champions League stage hunting redemption - and they delivered in some style with a 3-0 win over Union Saint-Gilloise in their third round qualifier second leg action sealing a 3-2 aggregate success.
Antonino Colak and Malik Tillman had early chances to score the first of at least two goals the home side in Glasgow needed to stay alive in this tie. Colak had another chance somehow saved by Anthony Moris but he could do nothing to stop James Tavernier scoring from the penalty spot and giving Rangers' European chances a major shot in the arm. The club's new number nine then restored parity with another of his attempts, this one successful after a Scott Arfield shot was denied on the line by Moris.
John Lundstram almost completed the comeback but it was Mlik Tillman who met Union's goalkeeper in no-man's land to head home the all-important third goal that sealed play-off progression, standing two games away from a coveted elite European group stage spot. Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side had to overturn a two-goal deficit from the first leg in Leuven and did so tremendously. Here are three things we learned from Rangers on a fine night at Ibrox.
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Battering down the hatches
The Belgians came to Glasgow with one thought only - hold out for what they had. Their counter-attack and set-pieces is what their forward play consisted of as they limited Rangers to what they could do.
Moris was still called upon though to make a couple of incredible saves but was eventually the villain as an impressive home side wore him down to the point of a crucial mistake. Ibrox's rocking atmosphere certainly played a part.
Captain fantastic
On the Euro nights, Tavernier is the man that usually steps up. He scored a pressure cooker penalty and barked his defence all the way through this night. A fine night fans have come to expect from the right-back.
Strength and character
Even despite the Europa League run last season, there was conflicting opinions on whether Rangers could overturn this deficit, questioning van Bronckhorst's team and their character.
They showed in spades they have the bottle to handle adversity and more importantly, the quality to handle such occasions.
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