STEVEN GERRARD hailed a ‘sublime’ showing from Alfredo Morelos as he inspired Rangers to a dramatic victory over Royal Antwerp that clinched a spot in the last 16 of the Europa League.

Rangers will take their place in the draw on Friday thanks to a 5-2 win at Ibrox that secured a 9-5 aggregate success and maintained their unbeaten run on the continent this term.

Morelos opened the scoring with a clinical finish from the edge of the area and produced a stunning all-round performance as he bullied the Belgians and played a key role in a famous European win.

Nathan Patterson and Ryan Kent also netted before late penalties from Borna Barisic and Cedric Itten secured Rangers’ place in the next round and earned lavish praise from Gerrard.

Gerrard said: “In large parts and for the majority of it I thought it was high level, certainly in terms of our attacking play.

“I thought our first three goals were wonderful, the third one that Ryan scored was a fantastic team goal. I thought Alfredo, it was probably the strongest performance he has put in this season when you look at the all-round game.

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“I thought he was unplayable, strong, held the ball up well for us and was really physical and their defenders couldn’t handle him over the course of the 90 minutes.

“I thought the support in Kent and [Ianis] Hagi was high level as well and that is probably, in terms of a front three that we have put out, the strongest performance of the season.

“I thought we looked dangerous all night. Obviously there are a few issues in terms of the goals that we will look at and try and learn from and grow from. But, in the main, really proud and pleased with the overall performance.

“I thought [Alfredo’s] performance was sublime, for sure. He had a bit of everything and if you think about what a number nine needs to give in this system and this formation, he gave everything that we asked of him.

“He is really settled off the pitch at the moment with his family, he is really happy and coming into work with a smile on his face. Tonight we certainly got the best out of him and if he can keep performing like that from now until the end of the season, it is going to be a huge season for the club.”

The dramatic ties with Antwerp will live long in the memory of supporters but the final results were the most important factors for Gerrard as Rangers reached the last 16 for the second consecutive season.

Rangers could, and should, have won by more over a remarkable 180 minutes of action and Gerrard was thrilled with the performance at Ibrox.

Gerrard said: “That is not to mention the four from the first leg as well and it could have been many more. In terms of our attacking play, our style and how it looked, I am sure people will have really enjoyed watching us, more importantly our fans.

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“I have certainly enjoyed watching it from the side and the players have enjoyed playing in it. Over the course of the two legs we could have scored nine and we saw that was where the opposition weakness was.

“We wanted to be very bold and we picked two very aggressive, ambitious teams to go with that and the players deserve all the plaudits that will come their way.”

Rangers are now preparing for a hugely significant run of fixtures as they await their next European opponents and look to secure their Premiership title in the coming days.

And Gerrard is relishing the opportunity that his side have earned after another terrific showing that maintains their momentum in this historic campaign.

Gerrard said: “Look, it is about looking forward to the draw and seeing what the draw brings for us but we should certainly look forward to it with excitement and be buzzing for the draw.

“We have matched our performance from last year in terms of getting to the last 16 but we want to keep trying to impress ourselves and keep trying to go one further from a European point of view.

“Obviously we have got games before that, really important games in Livingston and St Mirren, and if we can find that level of performance I am sure we will be OK.”