Rangers player ratings v Celtic – Jack Butland dazzles as 2/10 stinker loses four of six duels
Rangers kept their title hopes alive as they played out a 3-3 thriller against Celtic on Sunday (7 April).
Daizen Maeda and Matt O’Riley scored the goals to give the visitors a commanding lead, with James Tavernier and Abdallah Sima responding for the hosts.
Adam Idah then thought he had bagged a late winner for Celtic, but Rabbi Matondo fired in a stoppage-time stunner to secure a point.
Football Insider rates the Rangers players out of 10 for their performances at Ibrox.
Jack Butland [8]
Fuming with Tavernier for the opening goal, which the goalkeeper could do nothing about, Butland showed his true colours throughout the match with a host of fantastic saves. The Ibrox number one made four stops in total and completed 53% of his passes, with his performance undoubtedly catching the eye of England manager Gareth Southgate, who was in attendance.
James Tavernier [5]
The captain began the game in horrendous fashion, with his attempted clearance after just 22 seconds bouncing off Maeda and into the back of the net to give the visitors an early lead. In a disappointing defensive outing, Tavernier won five of his 11 duels, but he did find the back of the net from the spot.
Connor Goldson [3]
The centre-back had a superb chance to level the scoring from a corner midway through the first-half, but somehow managed to guide his header over the bar. At the back, he was kept busy by a tricky Celtic attack, with Goldson at fault for the second goal as it was his handball that gifted Celtic a penalty.
John Souttar [3]
It was Goldson who took much of the blame for the loss, but his central defensive partner Souttar didn’t cover himself in glory either.
Dujon Sterling [6]
A surprise inclusion at left-back ahead of Borna Barisic, Sterling did his utmost to get forward and help Fabio Silva, with his battling side on display as he won 11 of his 13 ground duels.
Mohammed Diomande [6]
Diomande was the only real fighter in terms of the Rangers players, with the midfielder making three tackles and one interception on what was a tricky match for the hosts.
John Lundstram [6]
Lundstram also battled it out in the middle of the pitch, winning both of his aerial duels, but he wasn’t at his very best in this huge clash.
Scott Wright [2]
A hugely disappointing performance from Wright, with the winger registering just 19 touches of the ball and losing four of his six duels before being hooked at half-time by Philippe Clement.
Tom Lawrence [5]
Lawrence tried to trouble the Celtic defence but was kept quiet for large parts of the game, with the attacker completing just 58% of his passes.
Fabio Silva [6]
Silva endured a mixed afternoon in Glasgow, with the Wolves loanee heavily criticised for his on-field antics when throwing himself to the floor time and again. A yellow card went his way early in the second half for a dive inside the penalty box, only for VAR to overturn it and award a penalty.
Cyriel Dessers [4]
The striker failed to get into the game as much as the Celtic attackers did early on, but came alive to score what he thought was an equaliser, only for VAR to rule it out for a foul in the build-up.
SUBSTITUTES
Abdallah Sima [7]
Clement turned to the attacker at half-time for inspiration following his return from injury, with the loanee troubling the Celtic backline and definitely making a difference at Ibrox.
Todd Cantwell [N/A]
Rabbi Matondo [7]
Matondo was the hero at Ibrox as he fired in an unstoppable strike in stoppage time to clinch a vital point for Rangers.
Kieran Dowell [N/A]
Leon Balogun [N/A]
In other news, Rangers transfer news: Pundit expects first-team superstar to quit this summer after source’s ‘huge’ reveal.
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