BBC Sportscene presenter Steven Thompson can hardly contain his admiration for Fashion Sakala vs Hibernian
BBC Sportscene’s Steven Thompson was wowed by Fashion Sakala’s “immense” performance as Rangers got it right to overwhelm Hibs 4-1 at Easter Road.
The Gers man scored once and assisted twice more as Michael Beale’s side came back from an early Connor Goldson own goal to overwhelm their opponents on Wednesday night (8 March).
And former Ibrox forward Thompson felt that it might have been Sakala’s best game since arriving from KV Oostende two summers ago.
Thompson kicked off the analysis of the Zambian’s performance on BBC Sportscene on Wednesday by saying: “Fashion Sakala was immense tonight. Probably one of his best performances in a Rangers jersey.
“He was everywhere throughout the match, especially down this left-hand side. He caused a lot of problems, and of course Antonio Colak getting a couple of goals as well.”
Stand out
The knock on Sakala is always that he is inconsistent, and while that is true it is also the case then when he gets it right he can be virtually unstoppable in Scotland.
His direct, attacking intent is at times the perfect antidote to ponderous build-up play that struggles to break down deep-lying defences.
And with Rangers on the brink of a significant overhaul as the old guard of Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos appear to be on the way out, Sakala is positioning himself to be a big part of the new era, especially if he can combine with top scorer Colak in the way he did in Edinburgh.
If the first-half of the 3-1 win over Kilmarnock at the weekend (4 March) was pretty much overshadowed by the lacklustre second 45, there was no such issues on Wednesday.
Beale said afterwards it could have been eight, and is going to need to see some repeat attacking performances like that if this side is going to gain any serious momentum this season.
He has utilised Sakala in a way that Giovanni van Bronckhorst rarely did on a sustained basis, and on the showing at Hibs it will be difficult to take his spot in the starting XI away from him any time soon.
In other Rangers news, UEFA have behaved outrageously towards Gers fans and even after finally making some long-awaited concessions they have done nothing to right some major wrongs.