Rangers’ hit and miss striker Cyriel Dessers redeemed himself against Olympiacos with a second-half equaliser in the 1-1 Europa League draw in the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium.
On a night when 33-year-old Gers captain James Tavernier was dropped to the bench, the Light Blues did lots of things right in the first half but Dessers, who regularly frustrates the Gers fans, spurned two good opportunities and there were other half-chances for the Ibrox side.
Jose Luis Mendilibar’s side took the lead in the 56th minute through Moroccan forward Ayoub El Kaabi, who scored the winner for the Greek side in the Conference League final against Fiorentina last season.
However, Dessers levelled with a composed finish eight minutes later for his second goal this week, after notching in the 2-1 comeback win over Motherwell in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final on Sunday.
It was no more than Philippe Clement’s side deserved and they moved on to seven points from 12 and are still in with a chance of progressing into the knockout stages, albeit with games against Manchester United and Tottenham to come.
The Belgian boss took the big decision to replace Tavernier with right-back Dujon Sterling while defender Robin Propper and midfielder Mohamed Diomande came in for Leon Balogun and injured Tom Lawrence, who Clement confirmed was out for four-to-six weeks with a leg injury.
There were officially around 1,600 Gers fans inside the ground but they could hardly be heard amid the ear-splitting noise from the home supporters in the 33,000-plus capacity stadium.
However, Rangers started well.
In the 11th minute Dessers was sent clear by Nedim Bajrami and had only Kostas Tzolakis to beat but his unconvincing shot struck the goalkeeper’s leg, although offside may have been called had the Gers striker netted.
Dessers then slammed the ball low against Tzolakis from eight yards after taking Vaclav Cerny’s cut back in an impressive Rangers attack.
The visitors were industrious, mobile and growing in confidence with the long diagonal pass a favourite tactic.
Cerny tried his luck just after the half-hour mark with a drive but Tzolakis was down to save at his left-hand post, while Gelson Martins’ angled-drive at the other end found the side-netting, with Gers stand-in captain Jack Butland covering his right-hand post.
The Olympiacos faithful were not happy with the performance of German referee Sascha Stegemann and let him know as he left the field at the interval, but their own players had been subdued.
Tavernier was left on the bench when Clement took off Sterling in the second half, with Neraysho Kasanwirjo the replacement.
Rangers soon found themselves behind when Chiquinho headed down a long ball inside the box for El Kaabi who had time and space to turn and drive high past Butland.
Kasanwirjo curled a pass from Cerny past the far post from the edge of the box and Chiquinho came close with a similar effort moments later as the Ibrox side looked to respond.
And Dessers made up for earlier misses when he took a pass from Cerny and watched Olympiacos captain Panagiotis Retsos slide past him, before he beat Tzolakis with a fine finish for his ninth goal of the season.
The Govan side pushed for the winner.
In the 73rd minute Bajrami’s drive from just inside the box after creating the space himself was clutched out of the air by Tzolakis and Dessers had another run at goal before he was caught by defender Rodinei.
Hamza Igamane took over from Dessers in the 84th minute as Tavernier replaced Cerny and Ross McCausland came on for Bajrami but the visitors had to settle for the point.
Sarina Wiegman praised her England team after they “kept it simple” in a 5-0 rout of Nations League opponents Belgium at Ashton Gate.First-half goals from Lucy Bronze and Millie Bright underlined England’s control of the contest, and it could have been more but Alessia Russo twice hit the post.Substitute Aggie Beever-Jones scored her maiden Lionesses goal after 67 minutes, with n...
Valerien Ismael insisted he was the man to turn around Blackburn’s fortunes after a 2-0 home defeat to Middlesbrough played out on a night of sustained fan protests against the club’s ownership and his own management.Boro moved into the play-off places with a fifth win in seven as they make a late promotion charge, but it is a very different story for Blackburn who have dropped out of ...
Middlesbrough climbed up to fifth in the Championship with a 2-0 win over beleaguered Blackburn that piled pressure on Valerien Ismael and the club’s hierarchy at a febrile Ewood Park.Against a backdrop of angry fan protests against the Venky’s Group that has owned Rovers since 2010, Boro struck twice in the opening eight minutes to take control.Tommy Conway needed less than 90 seconds...
England comfortably preserved their unbeaten record in this season’s Nations League after a dominant display saw them brush aside Belgium 5-0 at Ashton Gate.First-half goals from Lucy Bronze and Millie Bright underlined England’s control of the contest, and it could have been more but Alessia Russo twice hit the post.Substitute Aggie Beever-Jones scored her first Lionesses goal after 6...
Tottenham will do everything they can to keep hold of winger Dejan Kulusevski amid reported interest from Serie A giants Napoli and AC Milan.According to GiveMeSport, Spurs see the 24-year-old as a key player and are planning for next season with the winger.It’s understood that any attempt to sign him would take a fee of around £50 million, which may reluctantly be accepted.Kulusevski h...
Arsenal have reportedly cooled their interest in Aston Villa forward Ollie Watkins ahead of the summer transfer window.According to Sky Sports, Arsenal have set their sights on other targets after making an offer for the 29-year-old in January.The Gunners attempted to sign the England international with a reported £60 million offer, which was ultimately turned down by Aston Villa.It’s u...
Chelsea are reportedly keeping tabs on Borussia Dortmund youngster Jamie Gittens ahead of the summer transfer window.According to David Ornstein at The Athletic, the 20-year-old is one of several wingers Chelsea are taking a close look at.Gittens started the season with a bang but has fallen off somewhat, failing to register a goal contribution in 16 games across all competitions.Despite his drop-...
Let's start our Daily Laugh today.KAI GROOMING EPL Week 30!! Thomas Partey this season Cristiano Ronaldo reaches 20 league goals in a season for the 𝟏𝟓𝐭𝐡 time in his career Ange might not like what he's hearing next Haaland won’t be the same without KDB! These Two GOATs have always had immense respect for each other! Please stay tuned on Daily Laugh. There will be more fun tomorrow!(Cred...
Premier League leaders Liverpool are going to have a busy summer transfer window.The Reds are currently working on new contracts for players like Virgil Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah while also preparing for the departure of right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold.Players like Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz are also facing an uncertain future at Anfield and could be replaced after this season.The Merseyside cl...
Alejandro Garnacho has dropped a Manchester United transfer hint by putting his £3.9m mansion up for sale after just a year.Garnacho puts £3.9m mansion up for saleCould hint at summer transferWinger nearly left Man Utd in JanuaryWHAT HAPPENED?Garnacho only bought the property in Bowdon last April but is already selling it, suggesting that a departure from United could be on the cards thi...
- 1 Reading extend unbeaten League One run to 11 games with win over Peterborough
- 2 Danny Rohl hails Sheffield Wednesday resilience in draw at Cardiff
- 3 Alfie May double sends Birmingham step closer to Championship
- 4 Marcus Rashford scores first Premier League goal for Villa in win at Brighton
- 5 Ryan Lowe and Conor Hourihane felt team deserved more as Wigan and Barnsley draw
- 6 Hollywood superstar Anne Hathaway sends clear message to Bukayo Saka
- 7 Mat Sadler hails Taylor Allen set-piece skills after Walsall snatch draw
- 8 Chris Davies says Alfie May’s goal drought never concerned him
- 9 Football fan 'eats' raw pig's head in ultimate insult
- 10 Marcus Rashford still looking to improve after firing Villa into FA Cup semis