10-Man Rangers Battle to 0-0 Draw Against Bilbao in Europa League

Post by: Omar Nasser

Photo : AP

Rangers played a very strong game and stopped Spanish team Athletic Bilbao from scoring in a 0-0 draw during the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final. The match was played on Thursday night at Rangers’ home ground in Scotland. Rangers had only 10 players on the field for most of the game, but still managed to keep Bilbao from scoring.

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In the 13th minute, Rangers player Robin Propper was shown a red card for a foul on Bilbao’s Inaki Williams. After that, Rangers had to play with one player less. Even though Bilbao had more players, they could not make use of their chance to score.

Bilbao had some good chances in the first half. Players Nico Williams and Oihan Sancet came close to scoring, but Rangers goalkeeper Liam Kelly made some great saves and stopped them.

Even with 10 players, Rangers tried to score too. Cyriel Dessers tried a long shot but it missed the goal. The team showed a lot of strength and didn’t give up.

In the second half, the game was stopped for seven minutes after 18-year-old Rangers player Bailey Rice got hurt on the head and had to be taken off the field on a stretcher. Everyone was worried, and the game was quiet for a while.

Later in the game, Bilbao thought they had scored when Alex Berenguer kicked the ball into the net. But the goal was cancelled after the referee checked the video and saw it was offside. Still, Bilbao got a penalty kick because the ball touched James Tavernier’s hand before the goal.

Berenguer took the penalty shot, but Liam Kelly saved it. This save kept the game scoreless and gave hope to the Rangers fans.

Bilbao’s coach Ernesto Valverde said, “We didn’t take our chances. The red card was clear, but the penalty call was strange. We needed more focus at the end.”

Rangers coach Barry Ferguson was proud of his team. “This is the kind of fight I wanted to see. The players gave everything. They showed heart and strength.”

The second match will happen next Thursday in Bilbao, Spain. The winner will go on to face either Lyon or Manchester United, who played a 2-2 draw in their first leg. The final match will also take place in Bilbao.

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