Slavia Prague 1-1 Rangers: Filip Helander strike gives Scottish Premiership champions Europa League advantage

Report as Filip Helander cancels out Nicolae Stanciu's early long-range effort to help earn Rangers a 1-1 draw at Slavia Prague in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie; the return leg is at Ibrox a week on Thursday

Richard Morgan

Football journalist @Richiereds1976

Thursday 18 March 2021 19:41, UK

Filip Helander's close-range strike earned Rangers a 1-1 draw at Slavia Prague in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie.

The home side took an early lead thanks to Nicolae Stanciu's stunning strike, only for Rangers to draw level against the run of play via Helander's 36th-minute tap-in as the visitors grabbed a crucial away goal.

How the teams lined up | Match stats
Europa League news | Fixtures

And Steven Gerrard's side saw out the rest of the clash to hold the advantage ahead of the second leg at Ibrox a week on Thursday.

How Rangers gained upper hand in Prague

Rangers arrived in the Czech capital buoyed by their Scottish Premiership title win on the weekend, but at the same time determined to make this special season even more memorable by maintaining their interest in Europe.

But against opponents who last lost a home in Europe to Inter Milan two years ago, the visitors knew just what a tough challenge awaited them at the Eden Arena - and that realisation soon became apparent as Slavia took a seventh-minute lead.

There appeared little danger when Peter Olayinka found Stanciu on the left edge of the box, only for the Romanian to cut inside to make some space, before finding the top right-hand corner of the net with an exquisite curler that left Allan McGregor rooted to his line.

The visitors appeared leggy and off the pace in the first quarter of the contest, perhaps a legacy of their weekend celebrations, only to equalise nine minutes before half-time with their first attempt on goal.

Rangers curled a free-kick into the heart of the area and the ball fortunately ricocheting off Connor Goldson to the unmarked Ianis Hagi at the far post, with the forward then simply laying a goal on a plate for Helander, who could not miss from virtually on the goal line.

If the visitors were lucky to go in level at the break, they produced a much-improved display in the second period, with Ryan Kent forcing a brilliant stop from Slavia goalkeeper Ondrej Kolar midway through the half.

However, Rangers were ultimately indebted to McGregor, 39, to earn them a share of the spoils after the veteran 'keeper pulled off a miraculous last-minute reaction stop to keep out substitute Lukas Masopust's close-range bullet header.

And we will find out just how important that late save will prove to be when the two teams go head to head in the second leg a week today.

Rangers break their Czech duck - Opta stats

Rangers have gained their first ever result in European competition away to sides from Czech Republic, having lost their previous three such matches without scoring a single goal.
Slavia Prague have won just one of their last five UEFA Europa League knock-out games (D2 L3), with all five coming against British sides (also Chelsea and Leicester).
Rangers have scored in their last 23 consecutive away games in all competitions (W18 D5 L1) last failing to net against Livingston in August 2020 (0-0).
Rangers have scored more away goals than any other team in the UEFA Europa League this season (12).
Rangers' leveller from Filip Helander was the Scottish side's eighth goal by a defender in the UEFA Europa League this season, more than any other team.
Slavia Prague's Nicolae Stanciu has been directly involved in nine goals (five goals, four assists) in his 11 UEFA Europa League home games - indeed 75% of his goal involvements in the competition have come on home soil (9/12).

What the manager said...

Rangers boss Steven Gerrard: "I think it was a fair result and I think we have given everything tonight from a physical point of view after the week that we have had.

"This was probably the toughest opposition that we could have faced because they play at a real high intensity and they are a powerful team that came out of the blocks extremely quickly.

"After a poor start, or a slow start, I thought we did ever so well to get back in the game and we have had some chances, they have had some chances and I think overall it is a fair result that sets us up for next week.

"Listen, at this stage it is very difficult to get results. You only have to look at Scottish history to be aware of that.

"We were coming up against a team with a fantastic home record, domestically unbeaten. So we knew the challenge was very big against a powerful team who like to play at a high intensity.

"We needed to be ready for that, but after the week we had it was quite tough. Credit to the players, they rolled their sleeves up and dug in."

Man of the Match - Filip Helander

The towering centre back not only turned in an accomplished and polished display at the back for Rangers on Thursday, helping to keep the Slavia Prague attackers largely at bay.

However, the Sweden international also popped up in the right place, at the right time, to score perhaps the easiest goal of his career, but also maybe one of the most important to help earn his team a valuable 1-1 draw in Prague, and a key away goal as well.

And if Helander and his fellow defenders can keep the Czechs just as quiet next week, then Rangers will be in with a great chance of progressing to the quarter-finals of Europe's second-tier competition.