Rangers overcame Fiorentina 4-2 on penalties after a goalless draw in Florence to reach the Uefa Cup final.
Brave Gers book spot in final
Rangers overcame Fiorentina 4-2 on penalties after a goalless draw in Florence to reach the Uefa Cup final.
Substitute Nacho Novo scored the winning penalty to put Rangers into the Uefa Cup final at the expense of the Italians.
The Scottish side had to defend resolutely throughout the game as the Italians pressed, creating numerous half-chances.
Their task was made harder when substitute Daniel Cousin was rightly sent-off for a second bookable offence when putting his head against Fabio Liverani's.
But they held on and then beat the Italians 4-2 on penalties after coming from behind. Barry Ferguson's first spot-kick was saved, but Liverani's was also saved before Christian Vieri blasted over.
They will now play Zenit St Petersburg in the final in Manchester on 14th May, where they will face former manager Dick Advocaat.
Rangers found themselves under pressure early on when Steven Whittaker's foul on Martin Jorgensen provided Fiorentina with a free-kick in a dangerous area.
Fabio Liverani presided over the set-piece 25 yards out but failed to trouble Rangers goalkeeper Neil Alexander, who gathered comfortably at the far post.
A scuffed shot from Adrian Mutu - the club's top scorer in Europe this season with six goals - was also collected by the goalkeeper, before Riccardo Montolivo blasted well over.
Marco Donadel - suspended for the first leg - hobbled out of the action four minutes before the interval and was replaced by Zdravko Kuzmanovic, as the Italians reverted to the starting 11 from Glasgow.
Mutu attempted to spark the tie into life after the restart when he collected a long ball from Santana only to screw wide under pressure from Kirk Broadfoot.
The former Chelsea striker then turned provider when he whipped a teasing cross to the feet of Giampaolo Pazzini who stabbed inches wide of the near upright.
A blocked shot from Liverani broke to Fiorentina skipper Tomas Ujfalusi who unleashed a ferocious shot that dipped just over the crossbar as the home side cranked up the pressure another notch.
Heroics
Only the heroics of Alexander kept the scoreline level when Liverani tapped a free-kick to Mutu and the goalkeeper did well to block a thunderous 30-yard shot from the Romanian.
Alexander failed to hold the ball but managed to smother just in time as Pazzini bore down on goal for the rebound.
Weir and Cousin both went in the referee's book before Steven Davis saw his flick held by Sebastien Frey after the Viola goalkeeper's defence had failed to clear the danger.
Vieri was thrown into the action with 10 minutes to go and he immediately squandered a great opportunity, stumbling over the ball in front of goal and allowing Alexander to come to the rescue again.
With the clock running down, Davis made way for Nacho Novo but it was Whittaker who drew an excellent save from Frey with a curling left-footed shot as the 90 minutes ended goalless and extra-time beckoned.
Vieri saw a shot fizz across the face of goal in the first minute of extra-time, before Cousin's header was held by the goalkeeper and a shot from the Rangers striker was deflected over.
Sending off
With this epic tie destined to be decided by the lottery of a penalty shoot-out, Rangers were dealt a blow when Cousin saw red after picking up his second booking of the night for clashing with Liverani after 109 minutes.
Penalties soon arrived as Rangers, with 10 men, held off the Serie A giants, riding their luck at times.
Ferguson took the first penalty and saw his kick saved to hand the advantage to the Italians.
But Alexander blocked from Liverani and Vieri blasted over, allowing Novo to keep his cool and Rangers into the final.
| Fiorentina |
Team Statistics |
Rangers |
| 0 |
Goals |
0 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 3 |
Shots on Target |
3 |
| 21 |
Shots off Target |
1 |
| 5 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 11 |
Corners |
4 |
| 19 |
Fouls |
32 |
| 5 |
Offsides |
8 |
| 0 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
1 |
| 84.7 |
Passing Success |
71.6 |
| 14 |
Tackles |
15 |
| 64.3 |
Tackles Success |
93.3 |
| 58.3 |
Possession |
41.7 |
| 65.9 |
Territorial Advantage |
34.1 |
|
