As if a victory over Union Saint Gilloise and a guaranteed place in the last-16 of the Europa League was not enough, Rangers had something else to smile about during a glorious Thursday night at Ibrox.
Beating their Belgian opponents thanks to goals from Nico Raskin and Vaclav Cerny either side of half-time, Rangers snuck into the top-eight at the expense of Norwegian champions Bodo/Glimt.
The reward, for Philippe Clement’s side, is a bye into the last-16. And after successfully navigating the new-look first phase without the defensive talents of John Souttar – he missed that Manchester United defeat through injury and was fit enough only for the bench against Union Saint Gilloise – Rangers should have a man Clement labels the club’s ‘best’ centre-half available from the off during their next continental excursion.
Provided, of course, Souttar does not suffer a repeat of the injury which saw him miss 12 matches across all competitions since the beginning of December.
James Tavernier delighted as John Souttar makes Rangers return in Europa League
The Scotland international made his first appearance in six weeks during the final half hour of that hard-fought win over last season’s Belgian league runners-up.
Limited to a cameo role despite the early exit of a luckless Leon King – James Tavernier was forced to fill in at centre-half with Ross McCausland at right-back until deep into the second 45 – Souttar’s long-awaited return was greeted with a massive sigh of relief from all at Ibrox.
Not least from his captain.
James Tavernier has impressed in the centre – especially at Old Trafford seven days earlier – but the Gers skipper will be glad to shift back across to the right with Souttar’s comeback the perfect tonic to ease Clement’s defensive headache.
“He’s a big asset for the team,” Tavernier said during his post-match debrief. “His leadership, his strength and obviously his aerial duels. He’s performed really well this year, even with internationals in Scotland.
“He’s obviously been a big miss but really happy he’s back.”
Rangers conceded 15 goals during Souttar’s absence.
A vulnerability at set-pieces was a real issue – so much so that Rangers were urged to bring in Norwich veteran Grant Hanley before opting for Lille loanee Rafael Fernandes – and that old issue reared it’s head again in the first-half against USG.
As James Tavernier and Robin Propper failed to deal with a ball into the box, only a tight offside denied the visitors a goal to cancel out Raskin’s opener at the other end.
Only Tavernier made more clearances than Souttar, despite the latter only playing one third of the available minutes on Thursday. The former Hearts stopper was still powerless to prevent Kevin Mac Allister – brother of Liverpool playmaker Alexis – ensuring a nervy finish with a looping consolation effort in the 83rd minute, however.
- READ MORE: Rangers Europa League Record Since 2017
Tavernier and Ross McCausland relieved to progress in Europe
“We conceded the header which we know, as a team, we should keep our [offside] line. But I’m delighted we held on,” Tavernier adds. “It was only at the end of the game Vaclav told us we sneaked into the top eight.
“You obviously want to compete against the best and European football is getting harder and harder each year. We’ve done well and I think we deserved it.
“We’ll definitely take the weeks off. We can probably train now rather than play then rest and recover!”
Clement has been forced to field a number of players in unfamiliar defensive roles of late. It was McCausland’s turn this week, the winger moonlighting as a full-back until Souttar entered the fray.
“We’re absolutely delighted [to progress],” McCausland beams. “When the draw first came out, people probably doubted us getting to this situation. So now we’re in this situation and we’re chuffed to pieces.
“It shows the quality we have within our squad and how good we are.
“It means more than anything. It’s something we wanted to do going into the game. We just wanted to win and that was what we’ve done. Now we’ve put ourselves in a very good situation.”
“Yeah [we can reach the final], definitely. 100 per cent.”
