Tom English slams Rangers as ‘pretenders’ and ‘champions’ verdict shared after loss v Celtic
Rangers are the “pretenders for a reason” after their 1-0 loss to fierce rivals Celtic, according to BBC Sport journalist Tom English.
Michael Beale’s men lost to Brendan Rodgers’ side in the Scottish Premiership clash between the clubs on Sunday (3 September).
Kyogo Furuhashi scored the only goal of the match, with Rangers striker Kemar Roofe having a goal disallowed by VAR.
“Rangers will look to the goal in the first-half that wasn’t and they might use that as an excuse but they had so much possession, so many chances, they just weren’t good enough to break down a Celtic defence which was teetering at times,” English said on Sportsound, as quoted by BBC Sport.
“Battling through their own inadequacies, they found a way to win, and credit to them. Not many people thought they were going to win today given the defensive casualties, a lack of confidence, 50,000 fans against them, but they did.
“They’re the champions for a reason and Rangers are the pretenders for a reason.”
Miserable afternoon
Many Rangers fans would have been massively looking forward to the big day against Celtic following the club’s very disappointing exit from the Champions League.
The Gers were knocked out by Dutch giants PSV 7-3 on aggregate in their play-off clash earlier in the week, sending them into the Europa League group stages.
They had a superb chance to bounce back from that demolition in their match against noisy neighbours Celtic, but the away side left Ibrox with all three points, in what was a professional display from the Bhoys.
Rodgers got his tactics spot on, with Kyogo producing the only moment of magic in the match to secure a huge win for his side.
The defeat will pile the pressure on Beale in the Rangers dugout, which will be made even more painful given that he must now wait some time for his club’s next game due to the upcoming international break.
In other Rangers news, Chris Sutton was at odds with a Sky Sports pundit amid a “ridiculous” Gers controversy against Celtic.