Rangers boss Steven Gerrard says Kemar Roofe’s goal against Standard Liege was the best he has seen live
Steven Gerrard hailed Kemar Roofe’s moment of genius and insisted he had never seen a better goal live than the Rangers striker’s stunning strike from inside his own half that sank Standard Liege in Belgium.
The Ibrox boss has a catalogue of impressive goals from his playing days, but he admitted none stack up to the effort which put the seal on a 2-0 Europa League triumph at the Stade Maurice Dufrasne.
James Tavernier fired Gers ahead from the penalty spot as the Light Blues claimed their first away win in a group-stage clash since Walter Smith’s team beat Lyon in 2007.
But it was Roofe’s incredible effort which has snatched the headlines, and Gerrard insists the former Leeds man deserves his moment in the spotlight.
He said: “None of my goals were in that league.
“I think it was a moment of genius. I’ve been lucky enough to watch it five or six times since the end of the game and it’s the actual build-up and preparation before the strike.
“He knocks two people off the ball with sheer strength on a very difficult pitch in the worst conditions I’ve seen.
“Then he manages to take someone on – and to then have the vision and audacity to try the strike in the first place, I just think that’s a moment of genius.
“And it’s probably the best goal I’ve seen live – and I’ve been a professional since 1998. Unbelievable strike and he deserves all the plaudits for it.”
But Roofe’s celebrations did not go down well with the hosts.
The former Anderlecht striker was booked in the aftermath of his goal, but a member of the Liege backroom staff took matters into their own hands as they confronted him at full-time, sparking a touchline quarrel between the teams.
Gerrard has no idea if that bust-up will see his team get into trouble, but says he will talk to Roofe.
“I can’t control what comes our way from that,” he said. “I don’t think I’d describe it as ugly. I think it’s too harsh. I think it was a little something or nothing.
“They were disappointed in Kemar’s celebration. OK but Kemar was punished for that and that’s for me to deal with and for me to handle.
“They are obviously very frustrated that they have been beaten for the first time in six years on their home patch.
“It’s not nice to lose football matches, especially when you’re the favourites to win them. We can understand the frustrations, but it was disappointing. We thought it could have been avoided.”
The final 20 minutes were played out on a swamp as storm clouds deluged the pitch.
But Gerrard was delighted with the way his defence held firm in the final stages.
He said: “I had to say certain things at half-time. We needed to be better in possession.
“I thought our organisation was good and besides a couple of crosses that we allowed to come in, I thought we were OK from a defensive point of view.
“We needed to show more style and to believe in ourselves more once we regained the ball, so we could keep it for longer periods.
“So we had to have a little go at half-time, but the first 20 minutes of the second half we were outstanding, more like the Rangers that I like to see with style and a real possession-based approach when we win the ball back.
“But then obviously the weather changed dramatically and the conditions became unplayable and very unpredictable.
“It became about who was going to manage the conditions better from there on in.
“But you have to give the players credit because I think you saw a different side to us in the final 25 minutes. We dug in, we handled the conditions and we thoroughly deserved a big win at a difficult place to come.”
Soccer Accumulator Bonus
Our fantastic Euro Soccer accumulator offer gives you the chance to earn a bonus of up to 100% on accumulators on the top domestic leagues in Europe along with the group and knockout stages of the Champions League.
This offer applies to returns on pre-match accumulators of 3 or more selections on Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga 1 or UEFA Champions League.
The maximum bonus that you can receive is ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. The bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based .on the remaining active stake. If a qualifying bet is edited .using our Edit Bet feature. The bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply. Double Chance bets or combination bets with bonuses. Such as Lucky 15’s or Lucky .31’s do not apply for this offer.
If your bet is successful, we will add the following bonuses to your returns:
Bet Type Bonus
14-folds and upwards 100% bonus
Terms and Conditions
Applies to straight pre-match accumulator bets on the Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga .1 or Australian A-League matches. Maximum bonus ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. Soccer Accumulator Bonus does not apply to Double Chance bets or combination. bets with bonuses such as Lucky 15’s, Lucky 31’s etc.
If any selections are postponed/void then the bonus will still apply, but the percentage bonus added will reflect the actual number of winning selections. For example, an 8-fold accumulator with 7. winners and 1 postponed match will receive a 30% .bonus to returns.
The bonus part of your returns will be added to your account within 24 hours of your final selection having played.
This bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based on the remaining active stake.
If a qualifying bet is edited using our Edit Bet feature, the bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply.
Where any term of the offer or promotion is breached or there is any evidence of a series of bets placed by a customer or group of customers, which due to a deposit bonus, enhanced payments, free bets, risk free bets or any other promotional offer results in guaranteed customer profits irrespective of the outcome, whether individually or as part of a group, bet365 reserves the right to reclaim the bonus element of such offers and in their absolute discretion either settle bets at the correct odds, void the free and risk free. bets or void any bet funded by the deposit bonus.
In addition bet365 .reserve the right to levy an administration charge on the customer up to the value of the deposit bonus, free bet, risk free bet or additional payment to cover administrative costs. We further reserve the right to ask any customer to provide sufficient documentation for us to be satisfied in our absolute discretion as to the customer’s identity prior to us crediting any bonus, free bet, risk free bet or offer to their account.
All bet365 offers are intended for recreational players and bet365 may in its sole discretion limit the eligibility of customers to participate in all or part of any promotion.
bet365 reserves the right to amend, cancel, reclaim or refuse any promotion at its own discretion.
