PARIS (AFP) – Luuk de Jong scored a late equaliser as PSV Eindhoven secured a 2-2 draw at Rangers in the first leg of their Champions League play-off round tie early yesterday.
The Dutch giants, aiming for revenge after defeat by Rangers at the same stage of the competition last season, twice pegged back their hosts to seal a repeat of the first-leg result from 12 months ago.
Last year, Rangers edged through with a 1-0 second-leg win in the Netherlands, but will need another surprise away win next week to book a return to the group stage after an entertaining clash at Ibrox.
“I don’t think they’ll underestimate us, but they’d better not,” Rangers manager Michael Beale told TNT Sports.
“This is a PSV team who haven’t been beaten since February and we nearly did (it) tonight.”
Senegalese youngster Abdallah Sima, signed from Angers in the close-season, scored a fantastic opening goal to give Rangers a 45th-minute lead against the run of play.
Ibrahim Sangare levelled for PSV just after the hour mark and the visitors looked to be pushing for a winner until a sweeping Rangers counter-attack was finished by Rabbi Matondo.
But the Scottish side, who struggled in the Champions League group stage last season with six successive defeats, could not hold onto the lead as De Jong bundled home from a corner with 10 minutes remaining. Royal Antwerp boosted their hopes of a first appearance in the European Cup proper since the 1957-58 season with a 1-0 first-leg win over AEK Athens in Belgium.
FC Copenhagen also moved a step closer to the group phase with a 1-0 away success over Polish champions Rakow.
