Steven Gerrard's team fall to third in Group G after last-minute defeat in Switzerland
Saturday 5 October 2019 11:36, UK
Christian Fassnacht's last-minute strike saw Young Boys beat Rangers 2-1 in their Group G meeting in the Europa League.
The visitors opened the scoring a minute before the break thanks to Alfredo Morelos' 14th goal in just 13 starts this season, taking his overall tally for the club to a hugely impressive 62 strikes in just 109 games.
However, Gerrard's team were pegged back five minutes into the second half thanks to Roger Assale's close-range finish, before the Young Boys winger took advantage of James Tavernier's mistake to win it with the last kick of the match.
As a result, instead of topping the group, Rangers drop to third after Porto's defeat at Feyenoord.
How Young Boys stunned Rangers
In a first half low on quality and chances - perhaps because of the artificial pitch - it was the home team who spurned the best opening when in-form striker Jean-Pierre Nsame somehow managed to side-foot wide of a gaping goal from just three yards out after being found by Ulisses Garcia's clever header.
And Rangers made their opponents pay for that miss when taking the lead against the run of play on the cusp of half-time. There appeared little danger as Borna Barisic looked to pick out Morelos's run down the left channel.
That is until Young Boys defender Cedric Zesiger got too tight on the Colombian, who cleverly spun his man before advancing forward and keeping his cool to beat David Von Ballmoos with a neat finish at the near post.
The hosts soon found themselves back on level terms, though, after Tavernier carelessly lost possession in the right-back berth, allowing Garcia to cross for the unmarked Assale to tap in from close range.
However, with the clock ticking down and just 60 seconds left to play, the Swiss champions won it after the unfortunate Tavernier made a complete hash of his attempted clearance, giving Fassnacht a clear run on goal.
And from a tight angle, the Switzerland international beat Allan McGregor at his near post with a low drive to send most of the 26,000 crowd at the Stade de Suisse into delirium.
Steven Gerrard: "We were a VAR away from taking a point from that match. We should have had a second yellow card for [Frederik] Sorensen, because he has booked Alfredo for exactly the same incident. I believe they should have gone down to 10 men.
"The 'keeper has pulled off a world-class save when we could have gone 2-1 up and the referee has missed a blatant penalty, so we are a VAR away from either winning the game and if not, drawing it.
"I am frustrated for the players, who have given a lot for the team, but we have gifted them two gifts, so we need to learn from this and cut out individual errors because we have lost two games this season from individual errors."
The forward was at his mischievous best in Switzerland, keeping the Young Boys defenders on their toes throughout the 90 minutes.
The Colombia international did brilliantly to turn his man, before finishing expertly for his side's opener and on another night, he may have won a second-half penalty after a clash with Garcia.
And with nine goals to his name already in this competition, including qualifying, the frontman is once again proving why he is Rangers' most valuable player.
Rangers take on Hamilton at Ibrox in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday afternoon.
