Slavia Prague needed an away win to knock out highly-fancied Leicester City in the last round of the Europa League and may have to repeat the trick against Rangers after settling for a draw at home to the Gers
Joe Aribo led Rangers to a decent 1-1 away draw against Peter Olayinka’s Slavia Prague in a round of 16 Europa League clash played at the Sinomo Stadium in Prague.
The two Nigerian internationals started for their respective sides on Thursday, and only Leon Balogun’s suspension for the visitors prevented that number from being three.
It was Olayinka who got to grips with the game faster though, fashioning out the opening goal for the Czech champions.
With just seven minutes on the clock, Olayinka found room in the final third and showed good intelligence to spot Nicolae Stanciu, who then beat the Rangers keeper from outside the box.
The Nigerian winger was involved in nearly everything good in attack for the home side in that opening half hour, but wasteful finishing stopped them from increasing their lead.
And they were made to pay for their profligacy in front of goal when centre-back Filip Helander tapped in the equaliser for the Light Blues off a fine Ianis Hagi pass ten minutes before the break.
The exciting attacker was, however, hauled off at the start of the second period leaving Aribo as the only player flying the Nigerian flag.
But the former Charlton Athletic midfielder couldn’t influence proceedings before he was replaced in the 81st minute of the encounter.
A respectable away draw it is for the freshly-crowned Scottish champions. But Steven Gerrard’s men will be wary of Slavia at the Ibrox Stadium next week, with the Czech Republic side notable for thriving when tagged as underdogs.
