Rangers condemned rivals Celtic to their first ever Scottish Premiership defeat in the Old Firm derby on Thursday afternoon, securing an impressive 3-0 win at Ibrox.
Rangers they got off to a dream start despite their recent struggles in this game and found themselves in front within seven minutes. Liam Scales’ wayward pass was pounced upon by the hosts and Ianis Hagi eventually capitalized, slotting a low shot past Kasper Schmeichel from 20 yards.
Vaclav Cerny’s deflected shot almost doubled Rangers’ lead less than ten minutes later when the crossbar was spared Celticand the guests constantly struggled to overcome the intensity of their opponents during a dominant first half for the Light Blues.
A superb Cameron Carter-Vickers strike challenge denied Mohamed Diomande the chance to put the light between the sides late in the half, with an injury-hit Rangers side unable to make the most of their first-half dominance as they squandered a number of promising counter-attacks.
Kyogo Furuhashi came close to equalizing shortly after the restart, with an excellent touch and finish to beat Liam Kelly, but the flag in the back right denied the Japanese striker against one of his favorite opponents.
The linesman kept his flag next to him at the other end as Cerny hit the box for the second time at Ibrox. The Czech winger raced towards goal and struck the crossbar on the hour mark, although VAR may have ruled out the shot if it had gone through 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 slotted in at the far post to send the home fans into a frenzy and put the Gers in control heading into the final 25 minutes.
Rangers slipped further into dreamland in the 81st minute when substitute Danilo, who had been on the pitch for just 70 seconds, scored from close range after a fortuitous deflection to seal a comfortable win to ease the pressure on under-fire Gers coach Philippe Clement.
Celtic’s miserable Old Firm display put their lead at the top Scottish Premiership The table is reduced to 11 points as Rangers move further and further away from third-placed Aberdeen.
*Ratings are provided by FotMob*
|
Player |
Evaluation |
|---|---|
|
GK: Liam Kelly |
8.0/10 |
|
RB: Ridvan Yilmaz |
8.0/10 |
|
CB: Dujon Sterling |
7.4/10 |
|
CB: Robin Propper |
8.1/10 |
|
LB: Cheap |
7.9/10 |
|
DM: Nicholas Raskin |
8.2/10 |
|
DM: Mohamed Diomande |
7.3/10 |
|
RW: Vaclav Cerny |
7.8/10 |
|
in the morning: Nedim Bajrami |
7.7/10 |
|
LW: Ianis Hagi |
8.7/10 |
|
ST: Hamza Igamane |
6.0/10 |
|
UNDER: Danilo (80′ for Bajrami) |
6.9/10 |
|
UNDER: Robbie Fraser (90+1′ for Jefte) |
ON |
|
UNDER: Connor Barron (90+5′ for Raskin) |
ON |
|
UNDER: Cyriel Dessers (90+5′ for Igamane) |
ON |
|
UNDER: Oscar Cortes (90+5′ for Hagi) |
ON |
Subs not used: Mason Munn (GK), Leon King, Kieran Dowell, Rabbi Matondo.
*Ratings are provided by FotMob*
|
Player |
Evaluation |
|---|---|
|
GK: 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 Bernard) |
6.3/10 |
|
UNDER: Adam Idah (64′ for Furuhashi) |
5.7/10 |
|
UNDER: Arne Engles (75′ for Hatate) |
6.1/10 |
Substitutes not used: Viljami Sinisalo (GK), Anthony Ralston, Auston Trusty, Luis Palma, Hyun-jun Yang.
Player of the match – Ianis Hagi (Rangers)
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