Jack Butland was Rangers’ penalty hero as they beat Fenerbahce to reach the Europa League quarter-finals on a tense night at Ibrox.
The goalkeeper saved twice as they won 3-2 on penalties after a 2-0 defeat to set up a clash with Athletic Bilbao.
Goals in each half from Sebastian Szymanski had wiped out Rangers’ first-leg lead after Barry Ferguson’s men missed chances to put the tie beyond the Turkish side.
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Former Rangers striker Kris Boyd reacts to Fenerbahce’s missed penalty that sees Scottish giants Rangers progress to the Europa League quarter-finals
There were further opportunities for both sides, but 210 minutes of football failed to produce a winner.
Butland saved from Dusan Tadic and Fred either side of Ianis Hagi seeing his shot turned onto a post and Rangers went through when Mert Hakan Yandas blazed well over.
Progression keeps Gers season alive
Image: Barry Ferguson celebrates on another special night for Rangers
Despite losing 3-1 in Turkey, Jose Mourinho claimed on the eve of the game his side were a better team than Rangers but there was little evidence of that for most of the first half.
Rangers looked comfortable, with Connor Barron and Nico Raskin dominating the middle of the park and both Vaclav Cerny and Mohamed Diomade seeing plenty of the ball further forward.
There was a warning later in the half for Rangers when Youssef En-Nesyri ran off Leon Balogun’s shoulder to meet a lofted pass on the volley. The shot was well off target.
Fenerbahce continued to grow into the game and opened the scoring in the final minute of the half after some poor positioning from James Tavernier, who was playing on the right of a back three. Filip Kostic’s cross sailed over the Rangers captain’s head and found Szymanski in space to volley into the top corner.
Image: Fenerbahce’s Sebastian Szymanski celebrates as he scores to make it 1-0
Ferguson had another issue to contend with after five of his players were booked in the first half, including John Souttar and Diomande, who picked up suspensions for the quarter-finals in the process.
Fenerbahce striker Talisca came close from long range and with a header but Rangers had chances to restore their two-goal cushion.
Cerny again shot wide with his right foot from inside the box and substitutes Nadim Bajrami and Hamza Igamane both forced saves after some effective pressing had created good chances, especially for the latter.
The aggregate score was soon levelled in the 73rd minute. Both Jefte and Balogun dived into challenges to allow Mert Muldur to cut back for Szymanski to fire a shot through Tavernier’s legs and in.
Image: Sebastian Szymanski celebrates his second against Rangers
Both sides came close to a winner in the 90 minutes, with Tadic curling just wide from 25 yards and Hagi just failing to connect with Barron’s driven ball across the face of goal.
Rangers looked the likelier team for most of extra time. Cerny forced two saves from the edge of the box and Tavernier saw a free-kick clawed out from the line.
But the hosts began to tire and Butland made good stops from Yusuf Akcicek and Tadic either side of major appeals for a penalty against Raskin, which earned Mourinho a yellow card.
Visiting goalkeeper Irfan Can Egribayat appeared to claim he had been hit by a missile thrown from the Copland Stand. He was soon back there for the shoot-out and was upstaged by Butland.
Ferguson praises Rangers’ character
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Rangers head coach Barry Ferguson assesses their hard-fought penalty shoot-out win against Fenerbahce to reach the Europa League quarter-finals.
Rangers head coach Barry Ferguson:
“One thing I’ve got to say about my group of players is that something that’s been labelled against them is a short character.
“It’s easy to go, feel sorry for yourself, but they kept going, took it any extra time.
“You get into the penalty situation and I thought we handled that very well, Jack [Butland] obviously making some brilliant saves.
“You need to go and show what it means to play at this club, it’s a long shot in terms of getting to the final but we’re going to give it our best shot.
In terms of the league games that are going to be coming up, we need to go and show that we’re more than capable of making challenges every single season.”
Mourinho: We deserved to win
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Fenerbahce manager Jose Mourinho reflects on his side’s Europa League defeat to Rangers after the Turkish giants lost on penalties, with Mourinho stating that the best side lost
Fenerbahce boss Jose Mourinho:
“We deserved to win over 90 minutes, we deserved to win after 120 minutes, we were the best team by far.
“In the first match I was honest and I had enough to say we made mistakes, we deserved to lose but in this match I also have to be honest and say we were the best team by far.
“We did everything to win. The ref and the VAR decided that we should go to penalties.
“Congratulations to Rangers but I think my team deserves everything from me, from our supporters and even from Turkey as a country because we’re the last club to represent them in the European competition.
“I’m sad for my boys because it was the dream to go through but I’m proud of them.”
What’s coming up in the Europa League?
