Glasgow Rangers once again failed to step up when needed in the Old Firm as they were beaten 3-0 at Parkhead in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday.
Coach Philippe Clement has lost four times and drawn five of the five games against Celtic since he arrived at the club last year, which shows the gap between the two teams at this time.
Goals from Daizen Maeda and Kyogo Furuhashi put the hosts in control in the first half, before Callum McGregor headed in Dujon Sterling's curling ball, the third from the range in the 45th second.
It was a terrible afternoon for the Gers away from Glasgow and, in particular, captain James Tavernier, who once again struggled in the Old Firm.
The Troubles of James Tavernier
The England defender made a poor start to the league meeting between the two sides in April when his late free came from Maeda to give Celtic the lead a minute back in April.
This time, it took until the 17th minute for the Japan international to do his best in Tavernier's defence, as he stole a pass from the defender to cut him back and shoot open from Alistair Johnston's pull-back.
Tavernier made three tackles and two interceptions during the game and won 7 of his 13 duels, but that didn't make up for his poor performance in Maeda's debut.
The captain was also lucky not to see a mistake when Nicolas Kuhn crossed to find Reo Hatate in acres of space where Tavernier should have been, only for the midfielder to fire high and wide from six yards out.
The story of Cyril Dessers' Old Firm
Cyril Dessers, who was given a game rating of 3/10 by Lewis Anderson of GlasgowWorld, was criticized by former Gers striker Billy Dodds on BBC Sportsound, as the forward said the Nigerian's efforts were “not good enough”.
He was much worse than Tavernier, who created at least three chances and one 'big chance' for his teammates, as the striker struggled to get out and block the ball.
The former Cremonese number nine now has one goal in six games against Celtic in the Old Firm competition, while Kyogo has scored eight goals in 15 games against Rangers. That shows the difference in quality between the strikers of the two teams.
|
vs Celtic |
Cyril Dessers |
|---|---|
|
Minutes played |
90 |
|
Shots |
2 |
|
Goals |
0 |
|
Key passes |
1 |
|
Duels won |
2/9 |
|
Lost property |
15x |
|
Statistics with Sofascore |
|
As you can see from the table above, Dessers made little impact at the other end of the pitch, with zero goals and only one chance created, and were dominated off the ball.
Tavernier, at least, created a 'big chance' for the team and looked to make things happen in the final third, while the striker offered very little.
Dessers has also been underweight when the Rangers have needed him to hold the ball up and relieve pressure, as he has lost seven of his nine duels, and these stats show that he has not been where he came in or out.
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