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UEFA Champions League: Rangers edge five-goal thriller against Porto [Tue Sep 13th, 2005]
Glasgow (Reuters) - Rangers have made a winning start in the UEFA Champions League with an enthralling 3-2 victory over Porto in Group H.
Greek defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos headed in off the right post five minutes from time to seal a dramatic result for the Glasgow side in front of 48,599 fans.
Rangers broke the deadlock 10 minutes from the interval when Danish front man Peter Lovenkrands hooked a spectacular goal from 15 metres.
Two minutes into the second half, though, Porto's Pepe headed home from six metres following a corner by Cesar Peixoto.
Rangers' Croatian striker Dado Prso bundled the ball over the line from less than a metre for 2-1 when keeper Vitor Baia failed to deal with an overhead kick by Tunisian Hamed Namouchi on 59 minutes.
As the ball dropped down towards the bar, Baia completely lost its flight and Prso celebrated as the ball went in off his boot.
Porto levelled again through Pepe when he smuggled the ball into the net from another Peixoto corner in the 71st minute but then came Kyrgiakos's header from Barry Ferguson's free kick to steal all three points.
Porto's Dutch coach Co Adriaanse felt his side deserved to win after playing better football on the night.
"We had opportunities to win and I think we deserved to win," he told reporters.
STRANGE GOAL
"The (Rangers second) goal was a strange goal. It looked easily as if he (Baia) could punch the ball or catch the ball, but he lost the duel in the air with Prso.
"We were the better team, especially in the first 30 minutes. But I think they had a better striker. Prso was very dangerous in the air and with every high ball.
"I predicted it would be an open game and it was an open game," added Adriaanse.
"It was played at high speed with both teams attacking and together we scored five goals."
Rangers manager Alex McLeish agreed that 2004 winners Porto were the superior team on the night.
"I don't dispute that Porto are, technically, a better team," he said. "Although this is a very good start and sets us up, we have still got hard work ahead. We're certainly not talking about qualification from the group.
"This result helps us become a little bit more ambitious. There was a bit of a swashbuckling style about us, but I am not saying it was a brilliant performance.
"But I would like to think this could be a catalyst for the domestic season."
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