Glasgow Rangers returned to winning ways in the Premiership over the weekend but it was far from pretty.
Philippe Clement saw the Ibrox side take a 1-0 lead over Dundee United after just seven minutes courtesy of a deft Tom Lawrence finish, but that was as good as it got for the Light Blues.
The Gers even had to result in time-wasting towards the end of the match. Three points it may have been, yet the performance left more questions than answers, one being, should Cyriel Dessers be dropped for the next match?
Cyriel Dessers game in numbers vs Dundee United
The Nigerian striker was given another start despite being largely ineffective against Celtic during the previous league match.
Signs were encouraging after his flick set up Lawrence for the opening goal, yet the 29-year-old couldn’t quite get into the match, taking just one shot on target during his spell on the pitch.
To no one’s surprise, he also missed a big chance and completed just six passes while losing possession seven times in 65 minutes.
Dessers statistics vs Dundee United | |
|---|---|
Goals | 0 |
Assists | 1 |
Key passes | 1 |
Total shots | 1 |
Possession lost | 7 |
Big chances missed | 1 |
Having taken just 20 touches, this meant Dessers lost the ball once every three touches on average, showcasing how poor he was when in possession.
Glasgow World gave him a match rating of just 5/10 for his display at Tannadice, and it is surely time for Clement to make a change for the League Cup quarter-final against Dundee United this Saturday.
The player to replace Dessers
Following Hamza Igamane’s impressive cameo, the youngster certainly deserves the chance to showcase his prodigious talents from the beginning against Dundee.
Despite signing for the Light Blues in the summer, Igamane’s first taste of action was against Celtic prior to the international break, coming on for the final ten minutes of the 3-0 defeat.
He was on the bench against United, with Clement bringing him on for Dessers with 25 minutes left, and it proved to be a wise decision.
The youngster showed flashes of his technical ability, taking some impressive first touches, and he nearly grabbed an assist also.
The Moroccan made one key pass, created a big chance and attempted three dribble attempts, succeeding with one.
More important than his statistics, however, was the fact he offered some much-needed dynamism in that area of the pitch during his 25-minute spell.
He may have been building his match fitness up during the opening weeks of the campaign, but it is now time for Dessers to be dropped from the starting XI and Igamane to be unleashed against Dundee on Saturday evening.
Journalist Beth Limb lavished praise on the former AS FAR centre-forward earlier this year, saying: “Confident with the ball at his feet, capable of shooting with both feet and links up play very well. One to watch in the future.”
For Igamane, the future is very much now.
