Rangers boss Steven Gerrard has hailed both Ianis Hagi and Joe Aribo for their heroics in the side’s stunning comeback from two goals down last night. The Scottish side looked as though they could have been heading for an early exit from the Europa League after Braga opened up a two-goal lead.
Hagi had given Rangers a lifeline just after the hour mark with a fine finish from inside the box but minutes later Aribo had equalised for Rangers to send Ibrox crazy.
Better was yet to come though as Hagi’s deflected free-kick wrong-footed the goalkeeper before flying into the net.
Rangers were able to hold on for a famous victory and give them a slender advantage heading into the second leg in Portugal next week.
Cameras panned on Hagi’s famous father, Gheorghe Hagi, celebrating the third goal in the stands.
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And Gerrard has no doubt the Romanian legend was beaming with pride at seeing his son shine on the European stage.
“We could have gone like-for-like with Andy Halliday, but we decided to twist a bit with Joe Aribo,” he tells BT Sport.
“He can play anywhere on the pitch, he’s going to be a hell of a player.
“He epitomised everything that we were about – he was positive from left-back, got us an incredible goal.
“We’re a team, it’s not about one player and I think we showed that tonight.”
And the Rangers boss clearly expects his players to replicate the form his side showed in the second half when they travel to Portugal next week.
“We’ve beat a good team. We showed unbelievable character, we ran hard for each other, we were more compact, more organised,” Gerrard said.
“We had a better shape and we were on the front-foot more in the second half.”