Scottish champions Glasgow Rangers had one of their best evenings in European football when they built a 4-2 lead over Borussia Dortmund in their Europa League fixture, thanks to some brilliant forward play, shoddy defending from their opponents and the absence of Erling Haaland.
Dortmund missed two good chances to take the lead: first, Dan-Axel Zagadou headed straight at Allan McGregor from a corner when unmarked, and then a Jude Bellingham ball over the six-yard box required just a tiny touch to score but there was no one to nick it.
The best chance for the visitors came early on, when Borna Barisic forced Gregor Kobel into a good save after dallying on the ball for too long. However, the Croatian had a frantic moment at the back when he fluffed a clearance from Marco Reus’ back-heel, though he eventually cleared his lines.
Dortmund’s profligacy cost them as Rangers capitalised on their opportunities near the end of the half. Zagadou was once again the offender, bizarrely raising his hands at a corner to give away a penalty, which James Tavernier easily scored after a VAR intervention.
More dreadful defending gave Nigeria international Joe Aribo the leave to glance a header across goal, allowing Alfredo Morelos the easiest tap-in of the game to give the visitors a 2-0 lead.
Dortmund made two substitutions at halftime, bringing on Giovanni Reyna and Youssoufa Moukoko, but still could not stop Rangers from scoring with John Lundstram netting from the edge of the box to triple their lead.
Two minutes later, the hosts finally showed some bite in attack, with England youngster Jude Bellingham converting with pinpoint accuracy from beyond the box to give BVB some hope. But, that hope was already flickering when Rangers made it 4-1.
Morelos’ attempt bounced slightly off Zagadou and into the back of the net for Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side. The assistant referee first called it out for offside, but there was no such infraction, and the goal was awarded after a lengthy delay.
While Dortmund’s whole performance was poor, Raphael Guerreiro’s missile past McGregor gave them hope for a comeback in the second leg. The Bundesliga side will hope to have attacker Haaland fit to play in the return leg on Thursday next week, as they attempt to overturn a two-goal deficit.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
