Month: March 2020

Steven Gerrard hopes Ryan Kent will get a Braga boost after his winner fired Rangers into the last 16 of the Europa League.

Kent has struggled to justify his £7m fee amid Rangers’ winter slump. But the previous Liverpool winger has gone how to repaying that sum after securing a £925,000 windfall for the club with the sole goal at the Estadio Municipal.

Rangers should have extended the 3-2 lead with which they travelled to Portugal during the primary half but wasted three chances – with Ianis Hagi becoming their fourth player this season to miss a penalty.

But Kent sealed Rangers’ place within the draw on Friday 16 minutes after the break to send the 5,000 fans who had journeyed from Scotland wild and now Gerrard hopes it’ll help the Englishman return to his best.

“Ryan may be a player that we’d like that level of contribution from,” Gerrard said. “There are tons of opinions on Ryan lately on what sort of form he’s in. But he delivered an enormous moment for us and he could have had two. agen sbobet maxbetsbobet.org

“He was disappointed with the large chance he had within the half . But i’m really proud of him and that i don’t just judge him on numbers. I judge him on what he’s doing for the team – in and out of possession. People don’t give him the credit he deserves in terms of the quantity of running he does for us – but he came big for the team and scored the important goal.

“Hopefully this may do his confidence the planet of excellent because there’ll be times when people aren’t proud of him and it’s a touch bit up and down. that’s a part of being a footballer at a top club. But a number of the opinions I even have been reading lately on Ryan are ludicrous. He’s a top player.”

Gerrard dropped a surprise an hour before kick-off when it had been announced George Edmundson would partner Connor Goldson at the guts of his defence, with the out-of-form Nikola Katic dropped to the bench after the St Johnstone horror show on Sunday.

It was a serious call, with the young Englishman untested against top-level opposition but he stood up to the task as he and Goldson stood firm.
Gerrard said: “The partnership of the 2 centre-backswas faultless. George was thrown in at the deep end but there’s a method to urge European experience.

“At some point a manager possesses to trust you to travel in, regardless of the challenge is. He stepped up and he fancied it and he delivered with the assistance of Connor, who played sort of a captain, sort of a leader. he’s someone who has had some stick since the weekend, along side the remainder folks , so to recover and post that sort of performance was great.
“We played against high-class opposition, a really dangerous opponent, who are in probably the simplest form they’ve been certain a while . The players are outstanding to a person over both games. I’m really pleased with them for getting the work done.”

Rangers have missed six of their 10 spot-kicks this season but Gerrard never doubted his team could pull through against Ruben Amorim’s side. “Moments like those can play on your mind but the sport panned out like we thought it might . We could have scored two more and therefore the tie could are done at half‑time had we been more clinical. I still had confidence then that moments would come.

“I won’t be disrespectful to Braga. they need beaten Porto during a final , beaten Sporting Lisbon, Benfica and Wolves. High-class opposition. A team that hadn’t been beaten under their new manager – and that we have beaten them twice during a week.”

Marcelo Bielsa’s smile at the ultimate whistle was as bright because the stars within the clear night sky above Teesside. The Leeds manager had not merely seen his second-placed side maintain an honest chink of daylight between themselves and therefore the Championship’s chasing pack but he had proof they will cope without their midfield enforcer Kalvin Phillips in any case .

Yet if Leeds, five points beyond third-placed Fulham, are cautiously optimistic about automatic promotion, one among their former players might be heading within the other way . Mateusz Klich’s goal left Jonathan Woodgate’s Middlesbrough in deep trouble after a match during which they, creditably, refused to fold but still looked distinctly runner-up and were mocked with chants of “going down” from the 4,500 away fans. judi bola online judibolaterbaik.co

Not that Woodgate was buying it. “If we keep playing like that we’ll be fine,” the Boro manager said. “We’ll keep it up fighting.”

A broken finger did not prevent Kiko Casilla – still expecting a Football Association disciplinary panel’s verdict on the racism complaint against him by West Brom’s former Charlton loanee Jonathan Leko – starting within the visiting goal. “It was a brave decision for Kiko to play with the pain he had,” Bielsa said. “But his was an honest performance.”
Phillips though did not get over injury in time and his absence from the all important anchoring role led to Ben White vacating his central defensive berth to fill a niche left by a player so pivotal for Leeds this season he’s seen as a possible dark horse for the britain squad. No wonder White looked slightly jittery as Leeds initially struggled to seek out a coherent passing wavelength.

Fortunately for this ersatz anchor, Boro, without a league win since New Year’s Day, were even more tentative. Woodgate’s team – without their January star signing Ravel Morrison who was on the bench – inadvertently helped White settle into his new role. With Leeds establishing an ominously convincing pass’n’move groove, Boro had reason to be grateful for an old boy’s profligacy.

There is much to admire about Patrick Bamford but Bielsa’s lone forward isn’t always exactly ruthless and his litany of missed chances this season – largely explains why West Brom instead of Leeds top the table.
Aware his side were living dangerously, Woodgate looked particularly alarmed as a slick manoeuvre sliced through his defence like an aeroplane cutting through cloud and concluded with Aynsley Pears diving smartly to stay out Stuart Dallas’s low shot.

Betrayed, repeatedly, by poor final balls Boro did not capitalise on Hayden Coulson’s ability to outpace Luke Ayling and sometimes struggled to urge out of their own half. Casilla barely needed to flex his wounded finger.
Woodgate’s players appeared riven with assorted fractures of their own and, shortly after Pablo Hernández’s shot ricocheted backtrack a post, their backline finally broke.

With Boro caught out by a rapid counterattack which ended with Bamford cleverly cueing up Hernández, they proved powerless to clear the fallout from that rebound and, seizing the initiative, Klich played a one-two with Hernández before sending a coffee shot arrowing into rock bottom corner.
Scored as half time beckoned, his goal could have destroyed Boro’s morale but, instead, it motivated them with Coulson’s audacious nutmegging of Ayling possibly emblematic of the potential locked somewhere deep inside this team.

George Saville unleashed their first shot on track in three games but, finally called to arms, Casilla tipped it over the bar. Woodgate’s horizon had briefly brightened but, although Marcus Tavernier would subsequently curl an attempt against the bar, Pears was soon performing wonders to repel Hernández’s swerving shot before Leeds had a strong-looking penalty appeal rejected when Jack Harrison was sent tumbling.

“Middlesbrough were above their recent level,” Bielsa said. “It was very tough but we stayed calm and managed situations well.”