It is rare for teams to visit the Estadio da Luz and win; however, Benfica’s performance was so excellent that they had to rely on a mistake by Rangers to escape losing.
Although his team’s performance at Ibrox kept the tie alive, Gérard Clement, the manager of the Gers, expressed disappointment at his team’s failure to win, he was nevertheless understandably proud of his players. In fact, his team is the slight favorite.
The errors cost Rangers the match against Benfica, but the result would not have been as favorable if it weren’t for Connor Goldson and John Souttar.
Benfica tie in balance thanks to under-fire Rangers pair
Together, the two have played a string of games together and have generally looked strong.
Apart from a few bad performances against Motherwell, they have hardly ever made a mistake.
Although Goldson hasn’t always performed at his best this season, he is still an important part of a defense that doesn’t give much away.
Last week, Souttar was largely to blame for Motherwell’s early goal, but he was extremely unfortunate to give up a penalty against Benfica.
Since the officials made a mistake, he was actually innocent.
Although the referee did not have the finest view of the situation due to the VAR crew, he managed to header the ball against his arm.
Online supporters quickly linked this to the error against Motherwell, but the two aren’t equal.
much like the objective of Connor Goldson.
If the vice captain hadn’t stepped in, Rangers would have defeated Benfica.
It was heartbreaking to watch him head into his own net on a delivery that was going through to Jack Butland or out for a goal kick after dealing with more than 20 set plays during the game.
Find me a defender who hasn’t given up an own goal, and you’ll find one who runs for cover when things get hard.
Although Goldson and Souttar were at fault against Motherwell, they played a significant role in keeping Rangers’ tie alive against Benfica along with Butland.
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