C Zvezda 2 – 1 Rangers

Allan McGregor produced a man-of-the-match display as Rangers lost 2-1 against Red Star Belgrade in Serbia but progressed to the Europa League quarter-finals 4-2 on aggregate.

Ryan Kent was Rangers’ goalscoring hero on the night as his deflected shot 11 minutes into the second half took the sting out of Red Star’s recovery mission, fuelled by Mirko Ivanic’s instinctive early finish.

Substitute El Fardou Ben Nabouhane scored from the penalty spot deep into stoppage time after Glen Kamara fouled Filippo Falco to ensure the hosts won on the night but the damage had already been done during the first leg.

Rangers arrived in Serbia defended a 3-0 lead following goals from James Tavernier, Alfredo Morelos and Leon Balogun on a famous night last week at Ibrox. This was their 50th match of season but Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side were caught in an early storm with Ivanic shaving into the deficit after just 10 minutes.

It was a poor concession as Guelor Kanga’s corner from the right evaded Morelos and Glen Kamara didn’t react quick enough as Ivanic breathed life into the tie. A big hand from Allan McGregor denied Ivanic a second before Milan Pavkov dragged another presentable opportunity wide.

The Ibrox club had the chance to reach the last eight of the Europa League for the first time since they went all the way to the final in 2008, but they were indebted to veteran goalkeeper McGregor after his sublime save to deny Red Star a second before the break through Cristiano Piccini’s curling effort.

Rangers’ 2,000 travelling fans were drowned out by a partisan home crowd at the Marakana, and the visitors threatened sporadically in the opening period as Morelos fired wide after being sent through by Kamara.

Red Star had never lost a home European match including qualifiers against a Scottish side in their six previous meetings, with Rangers accounting for three of those games, and McGregor was called into action within three minutes of the restart from Kanga’s glancing header.

A route one ball over the top moments later resulted in Ohi Omoijuanfo shrugging off Calvin Bassey but he was unable to set up Pavkov for a simple finish.

In Europa League history since the 2009/10 season, the only side to overturn a deficit of three or more goals in the first leg of a knockout tie was Valencia against FC Basel in the 2013/14 quarter-final – winning the second leg 5-0 having lost the first encounter 3-0.

Rangers were thankful to McGregor on three more occasions at the start of the second half as he kept out Kanga’s glancing header while Ivanic and Ben Nabouhane were both also frustrated by the veteran goalkeeper as Red Star sought to build up a head of steam.

But Kent’s cool finish albeit via a heavy deflection off Aleksandar Dragovic ensured Ben Nabouhane’s late spot-kick was merely a blemish on an otherwise memorable evening in the Serbian capital for the Scottish champions

What’s next?

Sunday 20th March 11:00am


Kick off 12:00pm

The Europa League quarter-final and semi-final draws will take place on Friday, March 18 at 12pm UK time, with the balls being drawn out at UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. You will be able to follow all three draws across Sky Sports’ digital platforms.

Rangers return to Scottish Premiership action on Sunday at Dundee, live on Sky Sports Football; kick-off 12pm.