Rangers coach assesses the performance of Aribo and explains why he was substituted in UEL final

There was nothing to separate the two sides at the end of 120 minutes in the Europa League final between Rangers and Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday night meaning the tie had to be decided by penalties.

Rangers had a big chance to win it at the end through Ryan Kent who was denied at point-blank range by the outstanding Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp.

Joe Aribo got the stadium on its feet when he broke the deadlock in the 57th minute, slotting home after sloppy defending from Tuta.

The Nigeria international was required to play as a false number 9 with Rangers main striker Alfredo Morelos ruled out for the season due to injury and Kemar Roofe lacking match fitness after recovering from a knee problem.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst has praised the Super Eagles midfielder for adapting to his new role and explained why he was substituted in the first half of extra time.

"I think he did very well, it's a new role for him and we had to adjust our lineup because Morelos was out," Van Bronckhorst told BT Sport.

"We had to adjust the players to adapt to a new position. I think he played really well today, he scored an important goal and in the end he was empty and we had to change him."

Aribo is the second Nigerian player to score in the final of a major European competition after former Arsenal winger Alex Iwobi who netted against Chelsea in the Europa League three years ago.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : uefa.com

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