Dramatic penalty kick costs Van Bronckhorst first European prize as a trainer


Wednesday, May 18, 2022 at 11:55 PM• Shane Jebbink • Last update: 23:56

Giovanni van Bronckhorst grabbed his first European prize as a trainer on Wednesday evening. The coach came short with Rangers due to a miss by Aaron Ramsey in the penalty shootout against Eintracht Frankfurt. Both teams had previously scored one goal in regular time: Joe Aribo scored on behalf of the Scots, after which Rafael Borré tied the score: 1-1. Rangers are licking the wounds and will have to get up quickly, because on Saturday they play the Scottish cup final against Hearts.

It took half of the match to ignite. The first 45 minutes in the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán in Seville offered hardly any spectacle. However, Eintracht did try via Daichi Kamada, who managed to get a shot with a nice action after he seemed to get stuck. Allan McGregor saved the day, after which Djibril Sow’s rebound also ended in the hands of the forty-year-old goalkeeper. Moments later, Ansgar Knauff was able to steam up and get a shot fairly easily, but McGregor was again attentive. On the other side, Aribo was close with a long shot, but his effort fell a yard wide of Kevin Trapp’s goal. After half an hour, a shot by Jesper Lindström from a corner that was blocked caused some panic in the defense of Rangers, but the ball was cleared in time.

Moments later, Filip Kostic took advantage of a mistake by James Tavernier, who lost sight of his position in defense due to his presence in the attack. Kostic was able to dive into the resulting hole, but his shot went wide. John Lundstram tried for Rangers with a header from a free kick, which knocked Trapp over the crossbar. Eintracht started the second half threateningly with a shot by Lindström from the edge of the penalty area. The ball almost went in through Glen Kamara, but flew half a meter wide. On the other hand, Aribo offered Ryan Kent a big chance, but the Englishman shot wildly wide.

Moments later, Aribo was successful in the rounding himself. The Nigerian took advantage of a slip by defender Tuta and finished in a controlled manner: 1-0. After more than an hour of play, Conner Goldson also slipped from Rangers, allowing Frankfurt to switch quickly and almost took advantage of Kamada. However, the Japanese lifted the ball just over the goal. A little later, Frankfurt was level. Rafael Borré came in for Calvin Bassey and was able to tap in a cross from Kostic. That same Kostic was close to a winning goal just before the final whistle of regulation time, but his shot went wide. An extra period followed, in which both teams were visibly tired and didn’t take too many risks. The only real chance was a life-size one: Rangers striker Ryan Kent thought he had walked into a low cross at the far post, but Trapp made a miraculous save.