Five things we learned from Rangers’ 2-2 draw with Villarreal

Steven Gerrard kicked off his first ever European group stage campaign as a manager on Thursday evening as his Rangers side travelled to Villarreal. 

This was the third competitive meeting between the two sides with their last meeting coming in the last-16 of the 2005-06 Champions League.

Rangers went behind after just 45 seconds to a fine Carlos Bacca goal and really struggled to get to grips with the game in the first-half.

However, in the second half, Rangers showed their resilience and came from behind twice to earn an impressive 2-2 draw and nearly snatched the win with a stoppage-time chance of their own.

Here are five things we learned as Rangers earned a valuable point in Spain.

1. Santi Cazorla is still a pass master

(Photo credit PAU BARRENA/AFP/Getty Images)

The end to Santi Cazorla’s Arsenal career was a heartbreaking one, with the Spaniard unable to give Gunners supporters a real goodbye due to injury.

However, any Arsenal fans watching Villarreal v Rangers will have witnessed a typically classy display from the 33-year-old, proving there’s life in the old dog yet.

Cazorla started on the left side of midfield but was afforded something of a free role for large parts of the game and seemed to pop up all over the place. His passing was both adventurous and accurate and his long, diagonal balls behind the Rangers defence kept Steven Gerrard’s men running toward their own goal for the majority of the night.

Cazorla ended the game with an impressive 91% pass success rate, a team-high five key passes and 82 touches of the ball. The 77-time Spanish international grabbed himself a first European assist since October 2016 and even threatened to score just before half-time, Allan McGregor palming his vicious shot out for a corner.

2. Resilient Rangers

(Photo credit PAU BARRENA/AFP/Getty Images)

After going 1-0 behind within 45 seconds, Rangers could have easily folded in a very tough away game. However, even with the Yellow Submarine outpassing Rangers 4o3 to 264, they were unable to run away from their Scottish opponents.

Rangers even got themselves back on level terms when Scott Arfield finished a decisive move involving James Tavernier and Daniel Candeias before Villarreal hit back with an immediate reply through Gerard (not Steven).

And, just when you thought that goal would have knocked the stuffing out of Gerrard’s players, they equalised once again when Glenn Middleton, after being on the pitch for just six minutes, played a wonderful ball down the left to Borna Barisic who, in turn, set up the experienced Kyle Lafferty to poke home on 76 minutes, making it 2-2.

3. The wait for a win in Spain goes on 

(Photo credit PAU BARRENA/AFP/Getty Images)

Despite their brave performance, Rangers’ draw with Villarreal means that the 54-time Scottish champions will have to wait a little while longer for their first away victory over a Spanish club.

They have now lost 10 of their 13 attempts away in Spain, drawing three, and their only win in the Iberian nation came in the 1972 Cup Winners Cup final when Rangers beat Dinamo Moscow at the Nou Camp.

Tonight’s draw, however, is one that Rangers fans can all be very proud of.

4. Gerrard’s tactical switches enhance his growing reputation

(Photo by Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images)

Steven Gerrard has stabilised Rangers and, in Europe especially, is really proving he can cut it as a manager, with the former-Liverpool captain proving his tactical awareness once again tonight.

In the first half, Rangers afford Villarreal far too much respect, standing off and allowing the Spanish side to dictate play at will, all-the-while showing no attacking intent of their own and finishing the half without a single shot on target.

However, in the second half, his side pressed and harried the Villarreal players, forcing mistakes and restricting their play – Gerrard and his players got their reward with two second-half goals to force an impressive and hard-earned 2-2 draw.

Meanwhile, Gerrard’s introduction of 18-year-old Glenn Middleton down Rangers’ left was inspired – the youngster was heavily involved in their second goal and allowed the Glaswegians to have a much more credible threat on the counter-attack.

5. Veteran’s experience pays off for the Gers

(Photo credit PAU BARRENA/AFP/Getty Images)

36-year-old Allan McGregor and 31-year-old Kyle Lafferty lined up at opposite ends of the pitch for Rangers tonight and both had telling influences for their side.

McGregor was caught out by Carlos Bacca’s early strike after 45 seconds but recovered well to make some key saves as Villarreal ramped up the pressure.

Meanwhile, and more importantly, Kyle Lafferty kept his insatiable work rate up for the entire game up-front for Rangers and was rewarded in the 76th minute when his smart finish found the back of the net to seal a hard-fought and highly impressive 2-2 draw.

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