Rangers Let Vital Win Slip Against 10-Man Braga
If you watched Rangers’ Europa League clash with Sporting Braga, you probably felt the same wave of frustration many fans experienced. This was a night that started with promise, tilted even further in Rangers’ favour, and then slipped painfully away because of a single avoidable mistake. It ended 1-1 at Ibrox, but it felt like much more than two points dropped.
The match unfolded with tension right from the start. Braga came in confident, already sitting comfortably in the table after their strong start to the group stage, and they showed it early. Jack Butland had to be sharp twice to deny Ricardo Horta, keeping Rangers in the game while the home side struggled to find any rhythm in the opening half hour.
Gradually, though, Rangers grew into the contest. Danilo and Djeidi Gassama began to find pockets of space, and the pressure finally told in first-half stoppage time. After a VAR review spotted Fran Navarro’s arm blocking the ball in the box, James Tavernier stepped up and converted the penalty with his usual composure. That strike not only put Rangers ahead but also brought Tavernier level with Ally McCoist for European goals with the club — 21 in total.
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Things got even better moments later when Braga’s Rodrigo Zalazar was sent off for a moment of hot-headedness, appearing to gesture a headbutt toward Nicolas Raskin. With a goal and a man advantage, the momentum was fully with Rangers. Ibrox sensed this could finally be the night the team broke their European losing streak and reignited their campaign.
But then came the moment that changed everything.
A simple throw-in toward the Rangers box should have been dealt with calmly. Instead, Nasser Djiga misjudged the ball’s flight and flicked a panicked header straight into the path of Gabri MartÃnez. The Braga forward, who had earlier conceded the penalty, needed only to tap it in. A gift of an equaliser, and a gut punch for Rangers.
From there, the mood inside Ibrox shifted. Rangers pushed but never regained full control, and frustration boiled over again late in stoppage time when Mohamed Diomande received a second yellow card. By full-time, the opportunity had gone, and with it a realistic path to progression in the Europa League group stage.
Manager Danny Rohl tried to highlight the positives, noting that for the first 60 minutes he felt his team were genuinely competitive in Europe. And there were improvements. But in Europe, a single lapse can undo an entire performance — and that was exactly the story of the night.
Rangers will now turn their focus back to domestic action, but this result will sting for a while. It will be remembered as a night when everything was set up perfectly — and then thrown away in one costly moment.
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