Kemar Roofe sends ‘strong’ message to Ianis Hagi after Rangers development
Rangers icon Kemar Roofe has taken to social media to praise the “mental strength” of former teammate Ianis Hagi after their 3-0 win over Celtic on Thursday (January 2).
The 26-year-old had been frozen out by manager Philippe Clement at the start of the season, alongside Todd Cantwell, but has since returned to the fold at Rangers.
Hagi opened the scoring at Ibrox after just seven minutes with a low drive from outside the box that left Kasper Schmeichel in the Celtic goal scrambling.
The visitors thought Kyogo Furuhashi scored the equaliser shortly after the break but the Japanese striker’s cheeky lob was ruled out for offside after VAR intervention.
Dutch defender Robin Propper finally doubled the home side’s lead just after the hour mark with a close-range finish, capitalising on some poor Celtic defending from a corner.
Rangers barely gave Celtic space to breathe throughout the game and their relentless pressing paid off big time, allowing Danilo to round off the scoring in the 81st minute.
Keemar Roofe full of praise for Ianis Hagi as Rangers demolish Old Firm rivals Celtic
The Romania international has since returned to action, starting eight of his 11 games across all competitions, scoring two goals, and providing three assists in his 836 minutes of action.
Roofe, 31, who is still a free agent after leaving the Glasgow club in the summer, took to Instagram to praise his former teammate, saying: “Mental strength brother, never giving up.”
Rangers have certainly started 2025 off with a bang after a frustrating start to the season and they will doubtless be hoping to keep the good feelings going as they travel to Hibernian on Sunday (January 5).
Clement’s side have a busy January ahead, including a crucial Europa League tie with Ruben Amorim’s struggling Man United side.
In other news, Steven Gerrard aims sly dig at Rangers boss Philippe Clement in new message.
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