Andrew Dickson reporting from Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium

NACHO NOVO claimed a dramatic late leveller to give Rangers the scoring draw they needed against Panathiniakos to progress to the last 16 of the UEFA Cup.

It wasn't a pretty performance from Walter Smith's side in Athens but after a poor first-half display, they improved enough to tie 1-1 and merit their place in the next round.

Novo was culpable in the goalless first leg last week, missing three good chances at Ibrox to put the tie beyond doubt.

So it was fitting that his effort nine minutes from the end allowed him to atone for those errors and send Gers towards a meeting with Werder Bremen next month.

Manager Smith made one change to the team which drew 0-0 with Pana in the first leg at Ibrox last week.

Kris Boyd, so often omitted from these kind of fixtures in the past, was given his chance to impress as a lone striker and the injured Lee McCulloch dropped out.

Both sides had early opportunities from distance, with Boyd firing just wide at one end and Alexandros Tziolis doing the same at the other for the hosts.

But after Boyd failed to connect with Kirk Broadfoot's inswinging cross moments later, Jose Peseiro's side came to life and had the best of the opening period.

Alan McGregor produced a magnificent double save when he clawed Andreas Ivanschitz's free kick away then denied Marcelo Mattos when he hit the rebound.

Sadly the goalkeeper could do nothing to stop Panathinaikos from going ahead after 11 minutes through home captain Goumas.

There appeared to be little threat when he received a pass from Giorgos Karagounis but he turned and caught McGregor out from 25 yards as he rifled into the top corner.

The goal was the first Rangers had lost in nine games, bringing their run of 775 minutes without conceding to an end, and the onus was on them to respond positively.

But it was the Greeks who looked more likely to add to their advantage, with Ivanschitz and Mattos both missing chances as they searched for a second.

McGregor also did superbly to paw a fierce half-volley by Goumas away, although his effort would have been disallowed for offside anyway.

It was taking Gers time to settle and it took last-gasp intervention from Carlos Cuellar to keep the deficit down to one.

Mikael Nilsson was given too much space to roam forward and when he slipped the ball to Helder Postiga, he was only denied by the Spaniard's sliding tackle.

As half-time approached, Rangers were needing some respite as they had been on the back foot for much of the game.

Yet they could have been level at the break after Novo collected Sasa Papac's pass on the right, stepped inside Loukas Vintra and forced a great stop by Mario Galinovic.

Smith refrained from making any changes at the midway point and his men looked much brighter as they resumed play.

Boyd almost met Novo's driven cross and Sasa Papac also forced Galinovic into action with a firmly-struck shot.

Broadfoot then played in Boyd, as Charlie Adam did Novo, and although neither pass paid off they showed there was space behind Pana's defence to exploit.

The trouble was Rangers couldn't make the most of it and each hopeful long ball they played forward was gathered comfortably by Galinovic.

Smith threw on debutant Christian Dailly and Steven Naismith for Papac and Adam, with Chris Burke following soon after in Brahim Hemdani's place.

Dailly's first contribution was to slide in and deny Salpingidis after he had skipped past David Weir and he got the ball, despite home claims for a penalty.

Two other tackles weren't so well timed and although fouls on the right wing gave Mattos and Goumas chances, neither of which were converted.

Time was starting to run out for Gers and with Pana starting to enjoy more possession again, the outlook was bleak.

But then, just as qualification seemed beyond the visitors, Novo pulled them level with his 10th European goal for the club.

Ferguson sprayed an excellent ball to Burke and when his cross was blocked initially, the little Spaniard was there to slam home the leveller and send Rangers through.

RANGERS: McGregor, Broadfoot, Weir, Cuellar, Papac (Dailly 66), Novo, Hemdani (Burke 69), Davis, Ferguson, Adam (Naismith 66), Boyd.

Subs not used: Alexander, Buffel, Gow, Cousin.

PANATHINAIKOS: Galinovic, Nilsson (Papadopoulos 85), Morris, Goumas, Vintra, Karagounis, Mattos, Tzilolis (Gonzalez 83), Ivanschitz, Postiga (Ndoye 62), Salpingidis.

Subs not used: Malarz, Ninis, Papadopoulos, Seric, Simao.

Referee: Felix Brych (Germany).