Liam Kelly was Rangers’ Europa League hero as he saved a penalty to earn them a vital goalless draw with Athletic Club in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final.
Jack Butland was dropped after a number of costly errors in recent weeks with Kelly justifying his first start since their Scottish Cup exit.
It looked like Rangers’ Thursday luck might be running out when Robin Propper was sent off early on for denying Inaki Williams an obvious goalscoring opportunity.
Rangers’ Robin Propper is shown a red card for a foul on Athletic Club’s Inaki Williams
But they stood firm, with Kelly pulling off two brilliant saves just before half-time as they looked to continue their European adventure during a dismal domestic run.
Alex Berenguer thought he had given the LaLiga side the lead just minutes after coming on, but his ‘goal’ was ruled out for offside with VAR instead awarding a penalty for Dujon Sterling’s handball.
The substitute stepped up and sent his shot straight down the middle with the Scotland international Kelly saving with his legs as the noise inside Ibrox cracked up another 10 levels.
Kelly celebrates after saving the penalty
The sides meet again in Bilbao on April 17 as they compete for a place in this season’s semi-finals.
More to follow.
