Cyril Dessers and Leon Balogun’s Rangers of Scotland survived a Jose Mourinho orchestrated Fenerbahce comeback to scale through to the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
Heading into the game, Fenerbahce had a Cyril Dessers inspired mountain to climb from the first leg, with a 3-1 deficit to overturn. Cyril Dessers set the ball rolling by getting the first goal and an assists in the game, putting Rangers in the driving seat ahead of the return leg.
Mourinho’s side reduced the deficit just before the break in the second leg through Szymanski, who went on to complete the comeback in the 73rd minute and tie the game across both legs, forcing extra time.
With honors even after extra time, the lottery of penalties was needed to decide the winner, Rangers held their nerve and ran away 3-2 victors on penalties to put paid to Mourinho’s dream of European victory this season.
Leon Balogun was instrumental to his side’s solidity, putting in a shift over 120 minutes to ensure honors stayed even long after Dessers time was up on the pitch.
Cyril Dessers was not selected as part of Eric Chelle’s 23-man squad for the World Cup qualifiers despite being the second highest scoring Nigerian striker in the world with 22 goals, behind only Victor Osimhen who has 23 goals.
Leon Balogun did not make the provisional squad for this international window but his solid showing over both legs makes a case for his inclusion in subsequent international windows.
