Jack Butland got his punch all wrong to gift Manchester United a lead against Rangers. But it was the body blow of Bruno Fernandes’ late winner at Old Trafford that left skipper James Tavernier devastated at the end.
Philippe Clement’s side thought they’d hauled themselves off the canvas to salvage a vital Europa League point last night when Cyriel Dessers hit a stunning goal to make it 1-1. But in Fergie time, United’s captain Fernandes scored a volley to sicken Gers and their travelling support.
Earlier, Butland’s calamitous own goal had put the home side in front. But when Dessers levelled late on, Tavernier felt it was a golden opportunity for them to take a memorable result back to Glasgow. And at full-time, he couldn’t help but think it was a chance passed up as Ruben Amorim’s under-pressure side eventually secured a much-needed win. Tavernier refused to put any blame on Butland for the howler on his comeback from injury against his former club.
Instead, he focused on Rangers’ performance with a depleted squad – and the fact they threw away a point at the death. The right-back, who was forced to play at centre-back in the second half due to Leon Balogun’s injury, said: “It’s definitely one that got away with how late they scored the winner.
“We’re so disappointed – we gave ourselves a great chance to get back into the game, then gave away a goal that we could have done a lot better with. We got the goal from Cyriel but the disappointment is that we didn’t hold on. To go from the high of equalising to the low of losing it so soon after? That’s football, isn’t it?
“We’re coming in at full-time with a draw and a point, but in a split-second we maybe lost concentration and concede. But that’s the level we’re at, we’re up against world-class players who can punish you.
“I can’t fault Jack. It’s a box full of tall lads, especially in their team, and they take full advantage of these situations. You saw how many saves Jack made out there for us, how often he kept us in the game. So there’s no blame there.”
Rangers went to Old Trafford without key players like John Souttar, Mohamed Diomande, Ianis Hagi, Oscar Cortes and Danilo. But their predicament was made even worse when Balogun and Connor Barron were crocked in the first half against United – before Vaclav Cerny limped off after the break.
Despite the absentees, they created a few good chances early on against Amorim’s men, with Nico Raskin losing his footing in front of goal – then Ridvan Yilmaz and Hamza Igamane being denied by United keeper Altay Bayindir. That’s why Tavernier was so frustrated afterwards – because he knew the opportunity was there to pull off a positive result against Premier League opposition.
He said: “These games come down to chances and how clinical you are in the 18-yard box. Nico and Ridvan have had great chances, Hamza had one too. “You’ve got to take them at this level. But we came in at half-time 0-0, still in the game.
“I didn’t even see United’s first goal, but corners were always going to be one of their big threats. Jack has told us that he’s come to punch it and it’s spun off his glove.”
Clement now has a job on his hands trying to put a team together to face Dundee United in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday at Tannadice – before they attempt to seal a Europa League play-off spot against Union St-Gilloise next Thursday. He’ll at least have Hagi back for Tayside at the weekend but the Belgian will have to rely on youngsters as they bid to get their domestic away form back on track.
Tavernier says they have no option but to roll their sleeves up and go again. He said: “We have a lot of injuries but we’ve just got to keep pushing. We can’t let it get us down.
“We’ve another big game on Sunday against Dundee United, so we’ll have to recover quickly from this. The lads who didn’t play minutes will train then we’ll prepare to go up there.”
Clement was forced to play some kids at Old Trafford, with Ross McCausland, Bailey Rice, Findlay Curtis and Leon King all coming off the bench against United. With the treatment room getting even busier at Auchenhowie, the Rangers youths look certain to get more opportunities to impress in the coming weeks.
And captain Tavernier is convinced they’re good enough to make the step up and have an impact in Clement’s first-team. He said: “I’ve got to really praise the team, especially the young lads like Bailey and Finn who came on and stepped up in a massive game like this.
“They’ve staked a claim with these performances, so we can take positives from the night. We’re really proud of how they conducted themselves. They can be proud, their families can be proud and I’m really delighted for them.”
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