Midtjylland 2-4 Rangers: Gerrard´s men seize initiative in six-goal thriller

Rangers will take a two-goal advantage into the second leg of their Europa League third qualifying round tie against Midtjylland after winning a thriller 4-2 in Herning on Thursday.

Steven Gerrard’s side were flying at 3-0 thanks to goals from Alfredo Morelos, Joe Aribo and Nikola Katic, but the home side responded through Frank Onyeka and Sory Kaba.

However, Scott Arfield’s cool finish 20 minutes from time gave Rangers a comfortable buffer ahead of the return fixture at Ibrox next week.

The visitors had been frustrated in their efforts until Morelos nodded home James Tavernier’s wicked right-wing centre two minutes before the break.

#ElBufalo just loves scoring goals pic.twitter.com/NWiXho46Aq

— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) August 8, 2019

Aribo finished a brilliant counter led by the dangerous Jordan Jones seven minutes after the restart and Rangers were cruising when Katic drilled home.

But Midtjylland fought back into the tie when Onyeka finished well on the spin two minutes later, while Kaba’s edge-of-the-box effort further reduced the deficit.

Rangers kept coming, though, and Tavernier played a pass into the right channel for Morelos, who set up Arfield to provide a side-footed finish into the bottom-left corner. 

Gerrard’s side will now look to complete the job when Midtjylland visit Glasgow on August 15.