Rangers secured a historic result as they thrashed Borussia Dortmund 2-4 in the Westfalenstadion.
Going into this tie much of the hype was focused on Dortmund but some experts like Jasmine Baba were pointing out that Dortmund were a ticking time bomb that could be exposed and that is exactly what Rangers did.
This was only the second-time in their history that Dortmund have conceded four goals in a home European tie, and the last time that happened was in 2016 when they hammered Legia Warsaw 8-4.
Back then, Dortmund went 0-1 down to Legia but after that they only conceded at 3-1, 6-2 and 7-3. That is to say, the game was not in the balance for the third and fourth goal, which is partly why Legia were able to do it.
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Tonight, however, the game was constantly in the balance and yet Rangers still walked away with a monumental, magic 2-4 win. No matter what Dortmund tried, Rangers always had an answer.
They took the lead just before half-time when James Tavernier coolly slotted home a penalty. Things got even better just three minutes later when a wonderful Joe Aribo flick was nodded home at the back-post by Alfredo Morelos.
Rangers are just the second team to score four goals away to Borussia Dortmund in European football.
⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️ Legia Warsaw
⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️ RangersJoining an elite list. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/3ZHjQLaURT
— Squawka (@Squawka) February 17, 2022
Things continued in the second-half when a wonderful run from Ryan Kent was matched by an equally wonderful finish from John Lundstrum to make it 0-3. And even though Jude Bellingham pulled a goal back with a similar finish minutes later, Rangers kept going.
Five minutes after Bellingham had supposedly pulled Dortmund back into it, a lovely flowing move from Rangers saw Morelos force an own goal off Dan-Axel Zagadou to make it a quite incredible 1-4 score.
The second-goal, in particular, impressed Kenny Miller in the BT Sport studio. “It’s a corner that I’ve seen Rangers work so many times,” said the striker, who scored 116 times for Rangers; “Aribo does this every corner, he gets across [the front-post].”
“I think the header’s going in, but Alfredo doing what all strikers should and I think he sticks it in from two inches.”
Alfredo Morelos' game by numbers vs. Borussia Dortmund:
100% shot accuracy
54 touches
5 dribbles completed (most
2 shots
2 shots on target
2 tackles
1 clearance
1 foul won
1 aerial duel won
1 goalA sensational performance. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/92gb1LXAIs
— Squawka (@Squawka) February 17, 2022
Former Rangers player Derek McInnes was fulsome in his praise for the whole display: “A proper team performance,” said the Scot. “They passed the ball better, they worked harder, they pressed better, they tackled harder. A proper team effort. A lot of players had their best games in a long-time.”