Rangers inflicted their first Scottish Premiership defeat of the season on rivals Celtic in the Old Firm derby on Thursday afternoon, securing an impressive 3-0 win at Ibrox.
Rangers made the dream start despite their recent struggles in this match and found themselves ahead inside seven minutes. Liam Scales' misplaced pass was pounced on by the hosts and Ianis Hagi eventually capitalized, drilling a low effort past Kasper Schmeichel from 20 yards out.
Vaclav Cerny's deflected effort almost doubled Rangers' lead less than ten minutes later when the crossbar was saved. Celticand the visitors constantly struggled to manage their rivals' intensity during a dominant first half for the Light Blues.
Cameron Carter-Vickers' brilliant challenge denied Mohamed Diomande the chance to put the daylights between the teams late in the half, with a damaged Rangers side failing to take full advantage of their first-half lead after missing a number of promising responses. – attacks.
Kyogo Furuhashi came close to an equalizer shortly after the restart, producing a superb touch and finish to beat Liam Kelly, but the offside flag rightly denied the Japanese striker against one of his favorite opponents.
The linesman kept his flag close to him at the other end as Cerny hit the woodwork for a second time at Ibrox. The Czech winger was on goal and smashed an effort against the base of the post on the hour mark, although VAR may have ruled out the effort if it had crossed Schmeichel's goal.
However, the Light Blues were soon to double their lead as a teasing corner found the head of the energetic Nicolas Raskin, who saw his shot deflected into the path of Robin Propper. The Dutch defender slid in at the far post to send the home fans into a frenzy and put the Gers in a commanding position heading into the final 25 minutes.
Rangers went further into dreamland in the 81st minute as substitute Danilo, who had only been on the pitch for 70 seconds, headed home from close range after a fortuitous deflection, securing a statement win to ease the pressure to Gers coach Philippe Clement.
Celtic's woeful Old Firm display has seen them extend their lead at the top Scottish Premiership the table was reduced to 11 points as Rangers move ahead of third-placed Aberdeen.
|
Player |
ASSESSMENT |
|---|---|
|
GC: Liam Kelly |
8.0/10 |
|
RB: Ridvan Yilmaz |
8.0/10 |
|
CB: Love Sterling |
7.4/10 |
|
CB: Robin Proper |
8.1/10 |
|
LB: Gift |
7.9/10 |
|
DM: Nicholas Raskin |
8.2/10 |
|
DM: Mohamed Diomande |
7.3/10 |
|
RW: Vaclav Cerny |
7.8/10 |
|
AM: Nedim Bajrami |
7.7/10 |
|
LW: Ianis Hagi |
8.7/10 |
|
ST: Hamza Igmane |
6.0/10 |
|
UNDER: Danilo (80' for Bajram) |
6.9/10 |
|
UNDER: Robbie Fraser (90+1' for Jephte) |
N/A |
|
UNDER: Connor Barron (90+5' for Raskin) |
N/A |
|
UNDER: Cyriel Dessers (90+5' for Igamane) |
N/A |
|
UNDER: Oscar Cortes (90+5' for Hagi) |
N/A |
Subs not used: Mason Munn (GK), Leon King, Kieran Dowell, Rabbi Matondo.
|
Player |
ASSESSMENT |
|---|---|
|
GC: Kasper Schmeichel |
5.4/10 |
|
RB: Alistair Johnston |
5.4/10 |
|
CB: Cameron Carter-Vickers |
6.1/10 |
|
CB: Liam Scales |
6.1/10 |
|
LB: Greg Taylor |
6.8/10 |
|
CM: Paulo Bernardo |
6.6/10 |
|
CM: Callum McGregor |
6.6/10 |
|
CM: Reo Hatate |
5.7/10 |
|
RW: Nicolas-Gerrit Kuhn |
6.8/10 |
|
ST: Kyogo Furuhashi |
6.1/10 |
|
LW: Daizen Maeda |
5.7/10 |
|
UNDER: Alex Valle (64' for Taylor) |
7.0/10 |
|
UNDER: Luke McCowan (64' for Bernardo) |
6.3/10 |
|
UNDER: Adam Idah (64' for Furuhashi) |
5.7/10 |
|
UNDER: Arne Engles (75' for Hatate) |
6.1/10 |
Unused Subs: Viljami Sinisalo (GK), Anthony Ralston, Auston Trusty, Luis Palma, Hyun-jun Yang.