Will Dodds

Fri 4 December 2020 19:45, UK

Rangers midfielder Steven Davis said his side were “fortunate” to be level at half-time against Standard Liege on Thursday, before improving in the second half to win 3-2.

The victory ensures the Gers’ progress to the knockout stages of the Europa League and keeps them ahead of Benfica at the top of Group D on away goals.

The home side came from behind twice, with goals from Connor Goldson, James Tavernier and Scott Arfield sealing the win.

Speaking after the game, Davis said that the way they conceded a second goal was “really disappointing”, but praised the response of his teammates.

“The second half was much better and we are delighted to come away with the three points,” he told Rangers’ official website.

“Going behind to begin with and then getting ourselves back in the game with Connor [Goldson]’s header and then conceding so soon after was really disappointing.

“We were maybe a little bit fortunate to go in level at half-time but I think second half was much better and we created a number of good chances and it was a nice goal to win it from Scotty and a great cutback from Kenty [Ryan Kent].”

On the balance of play, Rangers certainly did enough to secure the win, but the performance will have raised some concerns about their defence.

Both goals came from simple crosses into the box which they failed to deal with, and Connor Goldson and Leon Balogun will need to improve ahead of the knockout stages, where the Gers will likely face better teams than Standard Liege.

Rangers had 50.5% possession and took 16 shots to their opponents’ 10 (via WhoScored), while they generated 2.66 expected goals to Standard’s 1.91 (via InfoGol). According to InfoGol, it was the highest xG total a team has generated against the Gers in the Europa League so far this season.

Steven Gerrard’s side face Lech Poznan in the final match of the group stage and know that a win will see them top the group.

In other Rangers news, three things learned about Rangers v Falkirk