Chris Sutton destroys ‘ridiculous’ Rangers star Leon Balogun during showdown v Celtic
Chris Sutton has destroyed Rangers centre-back Leon Balogun for a “ridiculous” incident during the Gers’ Old Firm derby clash with Celtic.
Philippe Clement’s unbeaten record in charge of the Light Blues came to an end at Celtic Park on Saturday (30 December) as Brendan Rodgers’ side claimed all three points with a 2-1 win thanks to goals from Paulo Bernardo and Kyogo Furuhashi.
While the Gers had their chances to level the showdown, they were fortunate to not fall behind earlier in the clash as Balogun under-hit his pass back to Jack Butland, leaving the Rangers keeper in no man’s land and Sutton was quick to slam the defender for his effort.
Speaking on Sky Sports Main Event (30 December, 12:46) he said: “Well he got lucky, didn’t he? That is ridiculous from Balogun.”
General sloppiness
This Old Firm clash was arguably Rangers’ biggest game of the season so far, but they didn’t start the clash in a manner that represented the magnitude of the fixture as they were generally sloppy in almost all of their play.
While Balogun’s “ridiculous” mistake went unpunished, the Rangers defender put his team immediately under pressure with his dreadful pass back to Butland. Celtic may have been unable to pounce on the chance but that was much more luck than judgement.
Abdallah Sima was similarly sloppy with his poor clearance in the lead-up to Celtic’s opener as the Senegalese forward failed to even get the ball out of the penalty area, instead picking out Bernardo in plenty of space on the edge of the box.
If Rangers genuinely want to win the Scottish Premiership title this season, they have to iron out these sloppy mistakes, especially in the biggest matches, otherwise they can kiss the title hopes goodbye.
On a personal note for Balogun, he looked completely off the pace for the entirety of Saturday’s Old Firm clash which culminated in a red card midway through the second half. He let his side down and in the biggest games, Rangers can’t afford to see players perform like that.
In other Rangers news, the Gers have reportedly already prepared a new £2.5 million bid for another January signing