It was Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side who held their nerve against those coached by his close friend Ruud van Nistelrooy, and Antonio Colak’s goal came as PSV, frustrated by shot dominance and possession that failed to open up , he made a mistake. The outstanding Malik Tillman forced the error that saw Rangers join Celtic in Thursday’s draw. After last season’s Europa League final, Rangers’ ability for big European nights is being told against inexperienced, pace-bound opponents, who lost much of their threat when their leading striker, Luke de Jong, was forced out through injury. Rangers seized their moment, before digging hard for the win. PSV had been granted leave at the weekend by the Dutch Football Association to lighten their load. Qualifying for the group stages would be good for Holland’s game as a whole, something Rangers were not given by the SFA. Instead, the weekend’s draw with Hibernian, a red card given to Alfredo Morelos, had cast a shadow, with Van Bronckhorst ruling that the striker was “not ready to play” any part. The scoring burden would fall on Colak, whose goals for Malmo knocked Rangers out of this competition last season. To follow last week’s high-quality draw at Ibrox, Rangers ran a gauntlet of PSV fans flocking to their team bus on the way to the Philips Stadium. A late start was called after scenes which Van Bronckhorst said were “the worst I’ve seen as a player or manager”. But with one change, Steven Davies dropped for Glenn Kamara’s greater effort, Rangers kicked off at 9pm local time against an unchanged PSV amid 30 degree temperatures. PSV started with intent and dominated possession, saw Manchester United target Kody Gakpo cut out an early shot, which was easily saved by John McLaughlin. Ryan Kent in turn came down the left for Rangers’ first try. That presented no problem for Walter Benítez, the PSV goalkeeper who scored a clanger in the first leg. Kent’s cross brought Kolac the striker’s first glimpse of goal, the ball hurriedly smothered by the PSV defenders as Rangers found a head of steam. John Lundstram should have done a lot better than to score wide when Malik Tillman’s lay-off had completed a neat passing sequence, but Gakpo’s save when De Jong made space in the opposition area was a reminder of the danger of hosts. Antonio Kolac entered an empty net. Photo: Hollandse Hoogte/REX/Shutterstock De Jong narrowly missed a Jordan Teze cross before Ibrahim Sangare headed home from a corner as PSV created several openings towards the end of the first half. Only James Sands’ back-heel kept Ismael Shaibari’s shot wide of McLaughlin’s goal, the keeper soon after having a low save from De Jong as Rangers weathered the storm before the break. For PSV’s last chance of the half, Gakpo belied his growing reputation by digging over the bar when he had held out Sands with McLaughlin already committed. At half-time he saw De Jong, his shin ice-bound on the bench, being taken off. The captain’s physical presence would be missed as a large volume of PSV crosses rained down on the Rangers box. However, it was Tom Lawrence who came as close as possible, hitting the corner of the post and crossbar in the 57th minute as Rangers finally gained ground by forcing PSV to concede possession. Kolac got another look at goal when Kent, tackling back, poached the ball into the Croatian’s path. And it was from such a route, taking advantage of PSV defenders’ discomfort in possession, that Rangers’ goal arrived. A pressing Armando Obispo caused Benítez trouble and the keeper’s pass sold the helpless André Ramalho. On the Tillman stole, both alert and cool in setting up Colak to pass into an empty net. Tillman’s drive from the edge of the area almost doubled Rangers’ advantage, Benitez getting the ball at just the second attempt as Van Bronckhorst brought fresh legs to Scott Arfield and Scott Wright. Philipp Max dragged a shot wide and an increasingly frustrated Gakpo lost a one-on-one with McLaughlin as PSV pushed for an equaliser, but hard-nosed Rangers showed a knack for running down the clock in such situations. PSV meanwhile lost their cool and composure. After so long, the club having gone through so many upheavals, the promised land, a place among Europe’s elite, is finally Rangers’.
