Abdallah Sima has to start every week – Three things learned in Rangers v Hibernian
Rangers got off to the perfect start under the management of Philippe Clement with a 4-0 win over Hibernian on Saturday 21 October.
Goals from Abdallah Sima, Nicolas Raskin and Cyriel Dessers ensured that the Belgian came away with all three points on his Ibrox debut and pulled the Light Blues within four points of league leaders Celtic, before they face Hearts on Sunday (22 October).
Sima and Raskin’s strikes came in the first half before the Brighton loanee scored his second of the match midway through the second half before Dessers ended a torrid run of form with a calm right-footed effort in the final 10 minutes of action.
Here’s what Ibrox News learned from the Gers’ win.
Sima must start
Very few of Michael Beale’s summer signings have found their feet at Ibrox, but there is no question alongside Jack Butland, Sima is proving to be one of the best additions to the squad. The Senegalese forward was quite possibly the best player on the park against Hibernian on Saturday.
The 22-year-old has made it six goals in the last five matches in all competitions for the Light Blues, but his performance was about so much more than just the end product. He completed the most dribbles in the game for either side with four, as well as winning the most tackles, and duels in the game, proving he was no slouch defensively [Fotmob].
Sima has to be one of the first names on the team sheet currently.
Dessers has to build
Hopefully, Dessers’ second goal of the Scottish Premiership season will provide the forward with a boost of confidence to finally kick on for the remainder of the season. But even with his goal, the Nigerian striker has to do more to hold down his place at Ibrox.
The 28-year-old only touched the ball 27 times in the contest, with only 10 of those coming in the first half. On top of that, Dessers did still miss two big chances that he should have scored and given the fee paid to bring him to Glasgow, Rangers fans would have hoped he’d have had a hat trick.
Saturday’s goal has to be the springboard as for much of the game, Dessers was a passenger and on another day he would have been criticised for once again being wasteful.
Barisic a worry
In what was an overwhelming positive afternoon for supporters and Clement, the Gers do face one potential problem after Borna Barisic was forced off after 11 minutes at Ibrox having picked up an injury. While Ridvan Yilmaz did okay from the bench, he won’t be able to feature against Sparta.
The Turkish full-back was left out of the Gers’ European squad and that leaves Clement without an obvious replacement for Thursday’s (26 October) clash. There is a chance that Dijon Sterling could return having not started since the Old Firm derby clash with Celtic, but it could be an early hurdle for the Belgian boss to navigate.
In other Rangers news, one Sky journalist has shared the early differences between Clement and Beale’s sides