Fashion Sakala proves the cream of the crop for Rangers in 3-0 win v Celtic
Michael Beale earned his first Old Firm victory at the fifth attempt as Rangers overwhelmed Celtic with a thrilling 3-0 win and performance at Ibrox on Saturday [13 May].
The victory ends a six-game winless run in the fixture for the Gers, who opened the scoring after just five minutes when Todd Cantwell drilled in on the rebound.
The Hoops produced well below-par performance and were made to pay for silly and needless errors when John Souttar easily headed in the second from a corner and Fashion Sakala took advantage of poor defending to round Joe Hart and ensure the gap in the league table between the clubs is narrowed to 10 points.
With barely anything to play for between the two teams with the Scottish Premiership title already sewn up for Celtic and Rangers finishing the campaign trophyless, it was merely pride Beale’s men were playing for and he will have been delighted by the performance of one of his key stars in Sakala.
The Gers are set to lose two of arguably their biggest stars this summer with both Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos walking through the Ibrox exit doors at the end of the season, but with the Zambian international and some further additions to complement him, Beale will feel his side are in safe hands for next season.
And that was certainly the case on Saturday afternoon as Sakala simply ran riot against a lacklustre and hapless Celtic defence.
From minute one, the 26-year-old ran the shown alongside Todd Cantwell, causing havoc with their energy, aggression and endeavour in the final third and Sakala certainly showed his class in the end when he confidently rounded Joe Hart to score the third Rangers goal.
It was a showstopping display from the Zambian as he proved he is certainly capable of replacing Kent and Morelos’ quality and his stats on the day are further evidence of how much he is valued by Beale in the Rangers team.
As per SofaScore, Sakala picked up the best score of any player on the pitch with a tremendous 7.7/10, registering three key passes, successfully completing five of his seven dribbles at a superb rate of 71% and also winning 11 total duels in a superb attacking display.
Saturday’s game will have provided Beale with another opportunity to analyse his squad and pick out which players he can rely upon for the foreseeable and in Sakala and Cantwell – who dominated proceedings against their Old Firm rivals – they possess two players perfectly capable of singlehandedly aiding their quest to topple the Hoops for the Scottish Premiership title next season.
Who needs Kent and Morelos?
In other Rangers news, the Portugal manager has been raving about the talent of one Ibrox ace.