Rangers boss Steven Gerrard says he'll never get bored of talking up Alfredo Morelos

Rangers' Alfredo Morelos (right) with manager Steven Gerrard

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard insisted he would never tire of praising Alfredo Morelos after the striker downed Porto at Ibrox.

Gerrard lavished praise on the Colombian’s “stunning” touch and finish which opened the scoring in the 69th minute and made it 21 goals in 25 games this season for the 23-year-old, 11 of them in the Europa League.

Morelos did not have much time and space following Ryan Jack’s measured delivery but his shot was instant after he killed the ball.

Morelos then set up Steven Davis to fire in a deflected strike which sealed a 2-0 victory and put Rangers level on seven points with Group G leaders Young Boys.

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Gerrard said of the opener: “I loved the play before it, Tav (James Tavernier) being positive, sliding and getting the ball to Jacko when he was second favourite to get there.

“I liked that Jacko didn’t cross early, he showed composure and picked out the pass.

“But the touch and finish was stunning. That’s the reason we talk about him every two or three days.

“We’ll never run out of things to say if he keeps providing performances and moments like that. Players who keep producing moments like that deserve praise.

“I will never get bored of talking about him. He is a top player and I can’t describe how much I enjoy working with him. He’s a massive, massive asset to this club.”

Rangers started slowly and needed goal-line clearances from Glen Kamara and Connor Goldson to prevent Porto taking the lead but they gradually got on top and deserved the win.

Gerrard, whose team will qualify if they beat Feyenoord later this month, said: “I’m sure people will try and find problems with Porto and the reason why they are not the team they were.

“They are a good team. They have good players. And over two games we have dominated three halves.

“I thought Porto paid us a big compliment with their set up, the formation and the personnel they picked.

“It caused us problems and for the first 20-30 minutes their quick movement and system rattled us a bit. But once we came to terms with it we grew into the game.

“The second-half performance was very strong. We beat a good team and we beat them very comfortably.

“It puts us in a good place in the group but still a lot of work to do, two tough games to go.”

Porto boss Sergio Conceicao bemoaned an injury which forced experienced defender Pepe off early in the second half.

Conceicao said: “Rangers took advantage of our fragility. The first half was fairly balanced and I thought it was going OK. However, Pepe’s injury affected the result.”

He added: “Before the first goal I thought we should have had a penalty.”