A last-gasp equaliser from Cyriel Dessers earned Rangers a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their Champions League third-round qualifier against Dynamo Kyiv in Poland.
The Scottish Premiership team found themselves behind after a goal from the Kyiv captain and former West Ham player Andriy Yarmolenko in the 37th minute. However, Dessers found the net in the dying moments of four added minutes, finishing off a cross from substitute Vaclav Cerny with the game’s final kick.
Rangers will host Kyiv at Hampden Park next week – Scotland’s national stadium is being used due to delayed renovations at one of the Ibrox stands – and a victory there would send them through to the playoff round, where they would face either RB Salzburg or Twente.
Rangers manager Philippe Clement remarked to BBC Scotland: “We continued to push until the end to secure a result, and I’m pleased with that as we aim to instill this mentality in every player at the club: to keep working, keep going, and maintain belief.
“We have many new faces, including young talents, and they rose to the occasion. Vaclav Cerny provided a crucial assist, and Cyriel kept pushing for a goal. He had several opportunities, and while the goalkeeper made some excellent saves, he maintained his belief, so I’m delighted for him to have scored.”
A VAR official who had previously worked on the 2023 Champions League final was removed from the match by UEFA shortly before it began after allegedly being apprehended while intoxicated with a fellow match official the previous night. Polish reports indicated that Bartosz Frankowski and his VAR assistant Tomasz Musial were intercepted by police in the early hours on Tuesday while carrying a street sign in Lublin, Poland.
They were slated to officiate the Dynamo Kyiv-Rangers match. The game is being played in Poland because Ukrainian teams are unable to host international fixtures at home. UEFA confirmed the replacement of the two VAR officials without further details, and the Polish football federation has referred the reports of “inappropriate conduct” to its disciplinary committee.
Welsh side The New Saints narrowly lost 1-0 to Moldovan club Petrocub in the first leg of their Europa League qualifier.
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The Saints, who entered at the third round after being eliminated from the Champions League by Ferencvaros, fell behind in Chisinau just 20 minutes into the match. Donalio Douanla’s effort took a significant deflection off Danny Davies, beating goalkeeper Connor Roberts. Ben Clark came closest to leveling the score, curling a shot just wide.
