Glasgow Rangers have one foot in the play-off round of Champions League qualifiers after they hammered Viktoria Plzen 3-0 at Ibrox on Tuesday night.
Djeidi Gassama continued his electric start to life in Glasgow with two goals on the night, making it four goals in four matches after an impressive opening three outings against Panathinaikos and Motherwell.
|
Djeidi Gassama |
Panathinaikos (A) |
Panathinaikos (H) |
Motherwell (A) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Minutes |
15 |
34 |
83 |
|
Shots |
1 |
1 |
2 |
|
Goals |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
Key passes |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
Dribbles completed |
2/2 |
0/1 |
2/3 |
Cyriel Dessers also scored from the penalty spot and assisted the opening goal for the former Sheffield Wednesday man against the Czechia outfit.
There was also an Ibrox debut given by Russell Martin. Oliver Antman is still unpacking his boxes after a switch from Go Ahead Eagles, yet was able to put in an impressive performance.
Oliver Antman’s impressive debut for Rangers
The Finland international did not need any time to settle into life at Ibrox, as he was thrown into the starting XI and heavily contributed to two of the three goals.
It was his driving run, coming inside from the right, that resulted in him being tripped up inside the box, forcing the referee to award the penalty that Dessers scored from.
Antman also delivered a peach of a cross from the right flank to tee up Gassama for his second goal of the night, whipping an inch-perfect ball onto his head.
Whilst the Finnish forward may share the same name as an Avenger, it is another Rangers star who has emerged as their own superhero – Nasser Djiga.
Why Nasser Djiga is the new Rangers superhero
The Burkina Faso international was even better than Gassama and Antman on the night, as he put in a virtually fautless display at the heart of the defence, whilst the two wingers still lost possession and fluffed attacks to go along with their impressive contributions.
Playing Martin’s style of football is not easy. Rangers need players who are mobile enough to recover situations when the team commit turnovers in their own half, as well as players who are confident and composed enough to make passes under pressure.
Djiga showed that he is the perfect central defender for the way that the manager wants to play, as he was a colossus defensively and immaculate in possession.
His best contribution in the match came when the Gers were 1-0 up. Matej Vydra had the ball with time and space to pull the trigger around the penalty spot, but the Wolves loanee seemed to come out of nowhere to make a sprawling, goal-saving, block.
There was also moment in the 60th minute when John Souttar played a careless pass that put his side in danger, but Djiga used his pace to recover the ball in behind and retained possession with a clever first-time pass to Max Aarons.
He had countless moments like that throughout the game, including one to cover for an out of position James Tavernier in the closing seconds, to prevent the away side from creating anything of note, making numerous blocks and recoveries to keep Jack Butland quiet.
His faultless defensive performance was even more impressive than Gassama and Antman’s exploits on the wing because of how difficult it it to play the way Martin wants to play, which is why it was such a brilliant showing from the defender.
Djiga may not be Antman, but the 22-year-old titan could be the Man of Steel for Rangers.
