Football management moves pretty fast. Last Saturday Barry Ferguson was being beaten at home by Motherwell. Five days later the interim head coach was leading Rangers to a famous victory in Istanbul, responding to being patronised by José Mourinho by ending Fenerbahce’s 18-match unbeaten run.
Perhaps the scoreline was not as eye-catching as the 4-2 win away to Borussia Dortmund three years ago, but given the circumstances this was arguably more remarkable. Where there had been shambles, there was rigour. Where there had been diffidence, there was conviction. Where there had been incoherence, there was incisiveness. This was a result beyond Rangers’ realistic expectations, and yet it could have been even better. It was not just that Cyriel Dessers had two efforts ruled out for tight offsides, it was that he squandered two other counters as Fenerbahce’s structure disintegrated in the second half.
“We were very bad everywhere,” Mourinho said. “Maybe you will laugh but for me it was a good result because of the way we performed. I know Jack Butland made three fantastic saves and there was maybe a penalty but I don’t think to speak about the referee after this performance is ethical. We lost lots of duels, our passing was not fast. We made incredible mistakes. We had no pace to follow them. I have to say that we deserved the punishment of this result. But if you ask me do I think it’s over? No.”
Rangers have lost their past three home games so, as Ferguson stressed at every opportunity, the tie is not over. Perhaps with Fred back from suspension Fenerbahce will not be quite as leaden in midfield, but there was little here to provoke anxiety.
Mourinho had used his pre-match press conference to hit back at Philippe Clement, who had criticised his style of play before being sacked by Rangers last week. Ferguson, he said, understood that “it’s on the pitch that you win matches, not with philosophy”.
It was perhaps a reflection of that pragmatism that Ferguson started with a back three. “The team gave me everything I asked for,” Ferguson said. “They took on a lot of information, every single thing me and my staff told them on the training field. It’s not easy changing system and they’ve not played that way before.”
The Europa League represents Rangers’ only remaining chance of silverware this season and the sense had been that their main objective was to keep the tie alive for the second leg at Ibrox next week, but within six minutes they had been handed the lead. First Sebastian Szymanski, trying to twist out of trouble on the edge of his own box, was dispossessed by Vaclav Cerny, then another attempted clearance bounced off Mohamed Diomande to Dessers, whose shot just beat Caglar Soyuncu across the line. Dessers divides fans and misses chances, but he has 22 goals this season, four of them in the three games under Ferguson.
At that stage, with the pressure applied by Cerny and Diomande clearly unsettling Szymanski, the switch to the back three looked a masterstroke. Rangers started creaking, though, even before they lost Robin Pröpper to a head injury sustained in a collision with Butland. It was not long after he went off that Alexander Djiku swivelled to thump in a volley.
A stoppage-time goal earned Roma a 2-1 home win over Athletic Bilbao in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie as Lazio snatched a late 2-1 win at Viktoria Plzen, despite finishing the game with nine men.
Roma wasted two decent chances to take a first-half lead. Artem Dovbyk found a way past the Bilbao defence and into the area but lost his footing as he went to shoot and Paulo Dybala thundered a shot off the crossbar.
Bilbao took the lead five minutes after the break when Iñaki Williams headed in, but Roma were soon level when Angeliño's shot went in off the post after a cutback from Zeki Celik. Bilbao went down to 10 men five minutes from time after Yeray Álvarez received a second booking and Roma snatched the late winner via Eldor Shomurodov.
Plzen fell behind to Lazio after 18 minutes from Alessio Romagnoli's header but the Czechs drew level after the break when the unmarked Rafiu Durosinmi headed home from close range. Lazio had Nicolò Rovella sent off and Samuel Gigot also saw red in added time, but Gustav Isaksen curled a shot into the top corner in the 98th minute to give them victory.
Bodø/Glimt took a major step towards the quarter-finals with a 3-0 win over Olympiakos and Eintracht Frankfurt secured a 2-1 win at Ajax.
Bodø/Glimt were in front after 13 minutes thanks to Konstantinos Tzolakis's own goal, the Olympiakos keeper knocking Jostein Gundersen's header into his own net after the ball bounced down off the crossbar.
The hosts doubled their lead when Kasper Høgh tapped in Ole Blomberg's cross and Høgh was on target after the break with another close-range finish. The Norwegian side will fancy their chances of advancing when they head to Greece with a three-goal cushion over last season's Conference League winners.
Ajax went ahead in the 10th minute through Brian Brobbey's header but Frankfurt levelled when Hugo Larsson netted with a powerful strike from distance which took a slight deflection off Brobbey. Frankfurt grabbed the winner 20 minutes from time, Ellyes Skhiri finishing off a pass from Ansgar Knauff.
Earlier in the evening, Lyon secured a 3-1 victory at FCSB. Malick Fofana netted twice in the final four minutes to wrap up the win.
Reuters
But Fenerbahce failed to capitalise on their momentum, and their lack of pace means the slightest lapse of organisation leaves them exposed. When space opened up for Cerny three minutes before the break, nobody could catch him as he crafted an elegant one-two with Dessers, then finished calmly as the stadium slipped into a shocked silence that was emphasised by the hollow echo of the celebrating Rangers fans. Their mood had been dampened by the death of a fan in a traffic accident in Istanbul in the early hours of Thursday morning. Scarves were left at the site in tribute, while a GoFundMe for the family of the victim raised more than £30,000 within hours of being established. Ferguson spoke of how he and the squad had been “devastated” to hear the news.
Mourinho switched to a 4-3-3 at half-time, but it made Fenerbahce more vulnerable to counters. Fenerbahce had chances, there were a couple of desperate blocks and Edin Dzeko and Talisca muffed headers when well-placed, but Rangers retained their threat. The counterattacking third goal they had promised so frequently did eventually arrive, Cerny capping a superb display with his second. This season of chaos may be salvaged yet.
