Rangers star, Ryan Jack, has earned praise for his excellent performance as Scotland squeezed past Serbia on penalties to reach the European Championships.
Jack has established himself in Steve Clarke’s strongest team in recent times, so it was no surprise to see him included in the starting XI for Thursday night’s winner-take-all tie at the Rajko Mitic Stadium in Belgrade.
The Gers maestro played alongside Callum McGregor and John McGinn in midfield in what was a predictably tense encounter.
The game was 0-0 at the interval but Scotland took the lead just seven minutes into the second half, through Ryan Christie.
For well over half an hour, that looked like being enough. Yet, Real Madrid striker, Luka Jovic, popped up with a 90th-minute header for Serbia to send the contest to extra time.
At that point, it seemed that fate was against the visitors, but they picked themselves up to get through extra time, before cool penalties and David Marshall’s fine save from Aleksander Mitrovic, booked their place at the Euros.
Jack wasn’t required from the spot, but the Rangers midfielder was excellent in the game. He distributed the ball well – his pass accuracy of 83.7% was the second-highest of anyone in blue – and, as usual, provided great protection for his centre-backs.
His stamina was impressive, too, as he made it through a gruelling 120 minutes.
In the past, Jack received plenty of criticism from sections of the Scotland support, but his performances in recent months have silenced many of his doubters and he earned a lot of praise for his efforts in Belgrade.
Here’s a selection of reactions from Twitter:
https://twitter.com/Geddes1989/status/1327020836071632898
https://twitter.com/Watsy1872/status/1327020953541484545
https://twitter.com/JAndersonRFC/status/1327016456643612674
