Rangers: BBC Sport slams Cyriel Dessers after what he did v Hearts
Rangers striker Cyriel Dessers was criticised by BBC commentator John Robertson in the early stages of their Scottish Cup semi-final against Hearts, moments before he put the Gers 1-0 up at Hampden Park.
Rangers were straight on the front foot at Hampden Park and Dessers was put through on goal just four minutes in after Abdallah Sima found space in the box, but pulled his shot wide from close range.
The Nigeria international made up for his miss barely a minute later by latching onto Todd Cantwell’s pass, stepping beyond the defence and firing into the back of the net, and added a second after 78 minutes as Rangers earned a 2-0 win to book a final berth with Celtic.
Just prior to Dessers scoring Rangers’ opening goal, former Scotland international Robertson said on BBC SportSound (21 April, 3:06pm): “I think he’s got to score. He’s got to at least hit the target, but that sums up Cyriel Dessers.
“At (Ross) County last week he had four chances: two decent saves and two absolute sitters. You can’t, in this game of tightness, you can’t expect four good chances and only take one.”
Early Dessers goal exactly what Rangers needed against Hearts
Rangers went into their Scottish Cup semi-final against Hearts of the back of some very difficult results, which have threatened to derail their push for the Scottish Premiership title.
A 3-2 loss at Ross County saw them waste chances in the first half – as mentioned by John Robertson – before being blown away in the second period in a below-par performance.
At Dundee just days later, Rangers again failed to really turn up, drawing 0-0 in their twice-rearranged match at Dens Park and missing the chance to further close the gap to Celtic at the top of the table, which is now at three points.
Therefore, Rangers and their manager Philippe Clement desperately needed to make a good start against Hearts in the semi-final and, despite Dessers’ early miss, he recovered almost instantly to give the Gers just that.
It as a great moment for Dessers and he was the hero here. He could do with being a touch more clinical in the coming weeks, though, as Rangers try to overhaul Celtic at the top of the table.
In other Rangers news, Gordon Dalziel made a transfer claim regarding Lawrence Shankland prior to the Hearts game.
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