James Tavernier hit a perfect penalty to help Rangers eliminate Borussia Dortmund from the Europa League on Thursday, in the view of Richard Foster speaking on BBC Sportsound.
The former Gers defender feels Tavernier left BVB stopper Gregor Kobel with no chance of saving his 22nd-minute strike. He rifled home midway through the first period to break the deadlock in Glasgow with precision, calmly sending the German goalkeeper the wrong way.
Tavernier had also opened the scoring in last week’s knockout round play-off first-leg at the Westfalenstadion. Rangers went on to win 4-2 in North Rhine-Westphalia and saw the job out in Scotland, drawing 2-2. They will now enter draw for the last 16 on Friday at 11:00.
Tavernier’s penalty to put Rangers on course to take Borussia Dortmund out of the Europa League on aggregate was the Gers captain’s ninth goal of the season in all competitions so far. He would later net again to seal the tie and has also offered 14 assists over 38 outings.
Foster feels ‘fabulous’ Tavernier penalty for Rangers vs Dortmund was perfect
Tavernier is a spot-kick master, with his Borussia Dortmund penalty the Rangers skipper’s sixth conversion from seven this season. He has in total scored 36 of 44 attempts from 12-yards for the Ibrox outfit since moving to Glasgow. He missed his only attempt for Wigan.
Foster feels Tavernier’s latest penalty was perfect, having left Kobel no chance of stopping Rangers taking the lead against Dortmund. The conversion also came at the ideal time for Giovanni van Bronckhorst, as both the Gers and BVB had enjoyed spells creating chances.
“Fabulous penalty,” Foster said. “No goalkeeper is going to save that. There is far too much power in it. That has come at great time for Rangers.”
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