Cyriel Dessers continues his Rangers love-hate melodrama as Robin Propper details 4-minute Man Utd rollercoaster
For four minutes Robin Propper and his Rangers team-mates were dancing on the ceiling at Old Trafford.
But by full-time the Dutchman admits it was a sinking feeling that gripped the Ibrox squad as Cyriel Dessers’ big moment at the Theatre of Dreams was snatched away. Bruno Fernandes’ last-gasp winner was a cruel, cruel blow for a team that battled against the odds to still be in the game as it reached its climax.
With Philippe Clement’s squad down to the bare bones and having to rely on kid prospects like Bailey Rice and Curtis Findlay, Gers should have been easy meat for a United side that for all their troubles have still cost sums the Light Blues boss can only dream of spending. But Clement’s men hung in there. With Propper and make-shift centre-back partner James Tavernier throwing themselves at everything, Rangers were still only trailing to Jack Butland’s OG howler as the game ticked in the 88th-minute.
The stage was set for Dessers to pen the latest twist in his on-going love-hate melodrama with the Ibrox support. The man they booed on against Aberdeen earlier this month was all of a sudden their darling again as he laced home a sensational equaliser.
But those lovebomb feels didn’t last long enough for Rangers to claim another precious point on the road, with Fernandes’ winner tearing the sky-high Light Blues back to the floor. And deflated defender Propper admitted: “Cyriel’s goal was a huge moment, it was an amazing finish.
“I’m obviously behind it and when you see the away fans celebrating - it was a fantastic goal. It’s a great pass from Tav, a good touch from Cyriel and an amazing goal. It was an incredible feeling at the time.
“I was hoping that feeling could stay with us a little bit longer. Did we think we had done it? No chance, because Man United are a team who can win games in small details and that’s what they did. That goal is what Cyriel’s capable of, for sure. You can see how good he is when he’s in contact with defenders.
“You see how good his touch is and of course the clean finish. It was amazing. As a defender, it’s great to know I have really good strikers in front of me.
“But in the end, it was disappointing of course. You’re thinking it’s the last five minutes at 1-1 - so you should hold it and keep a point. That’s what makes it disappointing at full-time.”
Clement boarded the 40-minute flight south from Glasgow on Wednesday without a raft of key men. The tally of unavailable stars was eight in total as he was forced to fill his bench with fringe men and academy kids.
In the past, the likes of Kieran Dowell would have been flung on when Clement was up against it numbers wise. But having told the former Norwich man he is free to go this month, the Ibrox boss decided the moment was right to turn to the future as this time he opted to throw his trust behind Rice and Findlay.
At 18, both fresh-faced kids look like they should both still be in school. And they were given an experience that Clement hopes will teach them some valuable lessons going forward as they were plunged in against some of the Premier League’s biggest names.
“It’s amazing how well the young guys who came in did on the night,” said Propper. “We all did it together. They showed a great mentality because we had a lot of switching positions for players and so many young guys had to come into this type of game.
“That’s really good to know that we could manage that. It’s disappointing to have so many injuries, which meant we had to do that. But the young guys did really well and we made it really hard for Man United to win this game.”
A painful defeat was given an extra sting when Connor Barron, Leon Balogun and Vaclav Cerny all limped off, with the trio now a major doubt for Sunday’s Tannadice trip. Propper said: “We play a lot of games and football is a contact sport. So injuries are part of it.
“But there are too many because we need every player and we’ve lost real quality. It would be different if we could start with our first 11. But you can see we’ve got young boys who can play and they did really well.”
Clement was forced to mend and make do as his options were slashed by the first-half knocks picked up by Barron and Balogun. His solution was to patch up his back-line by moving skipper Tavernier inside from right-back to fill the gap in the centre, with Ridvan Yilmaz reverting from his starting slot on the left wing to the position just vacated by his captain.
And Propper was full of praise for the way Tavernier dealt with the upheaval. He said: “You can see Tav’s quality in defence, I think he can play anywhere.
“He’s already been on the right wing, right full-back and now central defence. He has a lot of experience and you see at the end his quality with the pass for Cyriel.”
Gers has their place in next month’s play-off rounds confirmed despite Fernandes’ winner. But the last-gasp defeat at Old Trafford means hopes of claiming a bye to the last 16 are no longer in their hands.
A victory over Union Saint-Gilloise will be needed, along with results elsewhere. Propper added: “We want to win the game next week and go through to the next round - hopefully be in the first eight in the table. For sure, we need to win against Union.”
