Malik Tillman wows BBC Sportsound pundit with perfect play for Rangers vs Ross County
Malik Tillman was “different class” when he set up Rangers captain James Tavernier for a first half chance against Ross County, according to Derek Ferguson.
The American midfielder came on as an early substitute for the injured John Lundstram and stood out with his attacking play, particularly when he slid a wonderful through-ball into the penalty area for his advancing skipper.
Midway through the first half of what turned out to be a nervy 2-1 win Tillman got the ball outside the Ross County box with a number of players around him, but calmly rolled a perfect pass through for the overlapping full-back, who blasted over, but Ferguson was delighted by what he saw.
Speaking live on BBC Sportsound Ferguson said on Saturday (4 February, 3.22pm): “He should hit the target, Tavernier. It’s a brilliant run, but it’s different class from Tillman.
“He has got options around him, two or three, but then he sees Tavernier bursting into the box. It’s the weight of pass, that’s the difficult thing to do, and the weight of pass is perfect.
“Tavernier doesn’t have to break stride and he really has to hit the target there I think.”
Sublime
He may have come on 10 minutes after kick-off, and by the looks of things he should have been in the starting line up anyway, but Tillman put so much into the game he was out on his feet in the closing stages.
In a match where the dominance in possession, particularly before the break, should have seen Rangers two or three up, the Bayern Munich loanee looked excellent on the ball with his driving runs forward and eye for a killer pass.
The finishing from some of his teammates wasn’t quite up to scratch otherwise he likely would have had a hand in more than the opening goal.
His diving header in first-half stoppage time relieved some of the frustration that had built up over a first half where Todd Cantwell had skimmed the bar and Alfredo Morelos hadn’t taken advantage of a few chances, but it was those two who finally combined to set Tillman up to score.
Nicolas Raskin looked encouraging in his late substitute appearance, and Cantwell has settled in to the Rangers side quickly, but surely making Tillman’s loan deal permanent has to be one of the priorities in the transfer market going forward.
In other Rangers news, another Light Blues player was slammed on BBC Sportsound for his sloppy error in the game.