Rangers star Ianis Hagi hopes Europa League heroics made dad Gheorghe proud

Ianis Hagi hopes he made dad Gheorghe proud after rescuing Rangers’ Europa League dreams with his Braga double.

Gers’ hopes of reaching the last 16 appeared to be in tatters after the Portuguese side snatched a two-goal lead at Ibrox.

But with Hagi senior, the former Real Madrid and Barcelona star, watching from the directors’ box, the 21-year-old refused to accept defeat and sparked the fightback which earned Steven Gerrard’s men a 3-2 lead heading to next Wednesday’s return leg.

Gheorghe Hagi watches his son in action at Ibrox

The on-loan Genk attacker scored twice after also playing a part in Joe Aribo’s equaliser and said: “It was for nights like this I joined Rangers. My whole family were here, so it’s amazing. It’s the first time they came here and I’m really proud they were in the stand.

“I’m really happy and I guess I made them proud.

“I’m just doing my job. Every single time I go on the field I know what my job is. I have to assist, create and score. That’s my job and it doesn’t change if we are winning, losing or drawing.

“It’s an important victory but it’s still only the first leg, so we have to think about St Johnstone on Sunday. We play every three days, so we don’t have time to dwell on any game.

“We just have to move on to the next game and we also have to play the second leg, so nothing is done yet. But we are confident we can score over there and progress.

“The first half was 50-50. Even though they were 2-0 up, we had our chances and missed them. They had their chances and scored, so that was the difference, but both teams had opportunities.

“We raised our level in the second half and scored with our chances. It’s 50-50, it’s still open, as the second leg is away from home, so it will be an open game for sure.”