THERE have been some quite extraordinary European nights at Ibrox in the 64 years that Rangers have been involved in continental competition.
This encounter with Braga was up there with any of them for drama and excitement and will live long in the memory of the 49,378 supporters who were fortunate enough to be in attendance.
A deflected Ianis Hagi free-kick with just eight minutes of regulation time remaining capped a sensational second-half fightback by Steven Gerrard’s side and resurrected their chances of winning this last 32 double header after all hope had seemed lost.
They had fallen two goals behind to Ruben Amorim’s side after an hour and appeared to be heading for their first European defeat at Ibrox under their manager in 15 games and out of the competition.
They had been wasteful in attack, outclassed in midfield and repeatedly cut open at the back and looked certain to pay a heavy price for those failings with a painful and costly loss.
But James Tavernier and his team mates had other ideas. Ianis Hagi pulled one back when he whipped in a shot from the edge of the Braga penalty box, substitute Joe Aribo drew them level with a stunning individual goal and then Hagi added a second in the closing stages amid extraordinary scenes.
A fan jumped over the advertising hoardings to celebrate with the jubilant players before being led away by police and stewards and a flare was thrown onto the playing surface. UEFA are likely to take a dim view. But it was easy to understand the reaction to a quite remarkable and completely unexpected finale.
Rangers turned defeat and a potential exit from the tournament into a famous victory with three goals in the space of 15 unbelievable minutes. The Govan ground was bouncing when the final whistle blew.
There is obviously still much work to do before a place in the last 16 is secured given that the visitors, who had dominated for the first hour, notched two away goals.
Rangers will also take to the field for the second leg of this double header in the Estadio Municipal De Braga next Wednesday evening without their first choice striker and leading scorer Alfredo Morelos.
The absence of the Colombian, who was booked for dissent by Spanish referee Xavier Estrada Fernandez in the first-half after fouling Bruno Viana, from their starting line-up will be keenly felt.
But nothing could dampen the spirits of the Rangers fans who filed out of Ibrox into the night after what they had witnessed.
Rangers could have been two goals down within the opening six minutes. Raul Silva got on the end of a dipping Nuno Sequeira free-kick on the edge of their six yard box and got a downward header on target. Allan McGregor did well to react quickly and deny the defender.
That said, Wallace should really have nodded in the rebound. The Lazio loanee threw his arms in the air after his effort went wide. He knew he had spurned a gilt-edged scoring opportunity.
Gerrard had warned his charges that their opponents, who have claimed the scalps of Porto, Sporting Lisbon and Benfica in their domestic league this year, were deadly on the counter attack in the build-up to this match. But their play in the centre of the park was still poor.
Steven Davis gave the ball away and Trincao Francisco supplied Abel Ruiz before receiving a cutback himself. His low shot whistled past McGregor’s right post. The hosts were living dangerously. The crowd, deafening when the game kicked off, knew it. A concerned silence spread around the stadium.
To Rangers credit they responded immediately and carved out an excellent chance of their own just a minute later. Connor Goldson sent Morelos racing down the right flank and he squared to the advancing Ryan Kent. The winger, though, just failed to make a connection in front of the Braga goal.
The hope that passage of play gave the home supporters proved short-lived. Glen Kamara gave away possession in the middle of the park and then Scott Arfield failed to prevent Fransergio breaking forward.
The midfielder unleashed a powerful right foot shot from fully 25 yards out which flew past McGregor and into the Rangers net off the underside of the crossbar.
Wallace, the Brazilian defender, was immediately replaced by his countryman Galeno, a forward. Rangers came into the game more. Morelos broke through on the Braga goal twice before half-time, on both occasions after being supplied by Hagi. But each time keeper Mattheus blocked his attempts with his legs.
Braga forged further ahead in the 59th minute when Rangers gave Ruiz time and space to tee up a shot. The Spaniard, on loan from Barcelona, took full advantage, and rifled a low shot beyond McGregor and into the bottom left corner.
It looked like being the end of their European adventure for Rangers. Instead, it was just the beginning of stunning comeback. Who knows what the second leg will bring after this?
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article