Jablonec eliminate Rangers after a tense penalty shootout

Jablonec defeated Rangers 1-0 in the second leg and won the penalty shootout 4-3. The two matches finished 1-1 on aggregate before Jan Chramosta converted the decisive penalty.

Rangers changed three players at half-time

The first half ended without a goal. Rangers then introduced Findlay Curtis, Connor Barron and Lawrence Shankland at the interval. Jablonec responded in the 64th minute, when Jan Chramosta and Jakub Rusek joined the match. The home side kept pushing for the goal that would level the tie. Vakhtang Chanturishvili, listed as Vakho in the club report, scored in the 74th minute. Rangers could not restore their advantage before the end of normal time. Rangers began the night with a one-goal advantage, so Jablonec had to attack without losing control behind the ball. The goalless first half suited the visitors, but it also kept the home side within one decisive action. Jablonec resisted the temptation to send every player forward early. That patience preserved enough energy for a match that eventually lasted through extra time.

Hanus remained important beyond the 120 minutes. A goalkeeper in a shootout must read the taker while staying within the current movement rules. His save from Penrice restored Jablonec’s control after Butland had earlier denied Zorvan. Curtis’s miss over the bar also mattered because it removed the need for Hanus to stop every Rangers attempt. Butland’s save from Zorvan could have become the turning point for Rangers. The following kicks instead kept Jablonec close enough for Hanus to respond. A shootout changes quickly because every success or miss alters the pressure on the next taker. Chramosta entered the final attempt knowing that a clean finish would end the contest immediately.

Extra time brought pressure but no second goal

Jablonec lost captain Nemanja Tekijaski to injury in the 85th minute. The Czech side reorganized its defence and protected the result through extra time. Rangers had more possession during long spells, but goalkeeper Jan Hanus and the defenders kept the score unchanged. Both teams showed fatigue as the match moved beyond 100 minutes. The clearest openings came from direct attacks and set pieces.

Neither side produced a finish that ended the contest before penalties.

The three Rangers changes at the interval showed an attempt to alter the tempo before Jablonec levelled the tie. Curtis offered direct running, Barron added another midfield option and Shankland gave the attack a central reference. Jablonec waited until the 64th minute to introduce Chramosta and Rusek. Those substitutions added fresh movement for the final part of normal time. Chramosta accepted the final responsibility after entering as a substitute. His kick did not add another goal to the two-leg score; it decided which club advanced after the tie had remained level. That distinction keeps the match record clear. Jablonec won the second leg in normal play, while the shootout settled the competition after extra time produced no further goal.

Chramosta decided the shootout

Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland saved from Tomas Zorvan. Curtis then sent his penalty over the bar, giving Jablonec a chance to recover. Hanus later stopped James Penrice. Chramosta took Jablonec’s final kick and scored. His penalty sent the Czech club into the next phase and ended Rangers’ European campaign for the season.

Vakho’s goal arrived ten minutes after the home changes. The winger found the action that Jablonec had needed since the first leg. Rangers still had time to respond, but the injury to Tekijaski created another challenge for the hosts. Losing the captain shortly before the end required a defensive reorganization at the exact moment when Rangers could increase their pressure. For Rangers, the elimination came despite protecting the first-leg lead for most of the return match. For Jablonec, progression followed a clean sheet, a late equalising goal in the tie and steadier finishing from the penalty spot. The result also highlighted the value of the home side’s bench, because both Chramosta and Rusek entered before the decisive phases.