Cyriel Dessers must be hooked at half-time after first-half display for Rangers v Hibernian
Cyriel Dessers must be substituted at half-time by Philippe Clement if Rangers want to ensure that they take all three points against Hibernian after the Nigerian struggled to be involved.
The Belgian boss is taking charge of his first game as manager of the Light Blues’ following the sacking of Michael Beale before the international break and got off to the perfect start as Abdallah Sima and Nicolas Raskin gave the Gers a 2-0 half-time lead.
Sima was playing just behind Dessers who led the line on Clement’s debut, but the 28-year-old’s struggles since making the move to Glasgow from Cremonese this summer continued as he failed to have a positive impact.
Dessers only managed 10 touches in the opening 45 minutes of the match, as the home side had an uncharacteristically low 48 per cent of the ball and was unable to make his limited possession count as he lost possession three times [Sofascore].
The 28-year-old seemed to be second to every ball in the first half, losing all four of his opening duels and failing to win a single one of his six battles either in the air or on the ground as he was bullied by Paul Hanlon and William Fish at the heart of the Hibs defence.
His one shot was on target but failed to test David Marshall in the opposition net as it was easily stopped by the 38-year-old, with the striker never looking like he was capable of adding to his only Scottish Premiership goal so far this season.
Although the Nigerian isn’t picked for his defensive capabilities, he didn’t exactly help his teammates press from the front as he was dribbled past once and even managed to commit a single foul.
On the limited occasions that he was able to finally bring the ball under control, which were few and far between, he was clinical with his passing, completing 100 per cent of his five attempted efforts, in what was the only bright spark of an otherwise poor individual performance.
With Danilo back on the bench having recovered from his cheekbone fracture against St Johnstone in September, Clement must be considering introducing the Brazilian in place of Dessers as currently, his side lacks a major presence at the top end of the pitch.
If Dessers’ performances don’t begin to improve, it is hard to see how his new manager will continue to pick him to lead the line in the coming weeks, given the competition waiting for their opportunity from the bench.
In other Rangers news, Nottingham Forest are not interested in Borna Barisic despite recent rumours