Leon Balogun leaves pundit flabbergasted in ‘horrible’ Rangers moment v Celtic
Leon Balogun was a lucky man as Rangers earned a dramatic 3-2 victory over Celtic at Parkhead in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday.
Barry Ferguson pulled a rabbit out of his hat in his first Old Firm game as the Rangers manager as he claimed all three points at Celtic Park.
The Ibrox outfit found themselves under immense pressure after Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate nullified Nicolas Raskin and Mohamed Diomande’s first-half goals, but Ferguson had one more trick up his sleeve in the shape of Hamza Igamane.
While Celtic pushed for a winner on the back of their second-half surge, Igamane silenced the Parkhead crowd with an 88th-minute winner out of nowhere.
Marvin Bartley blasts Balogun
Things would have perhaps been different had Balogun been punished for his poor judgement at the stroke of half-time.
The Nigerian put Rangers in trouble after playing an awful back pass to Jack Butland, who had to act quickly to deny a charging Maeda.
Balogun’s pass was so bad that it even left Marvin Bartley on live commentary with his heart in his mouth as he described the moment as “horrible”.
“Oh my goodness!”, Bartley said on the Scottish Premiership world feed broadcast (16 March, 1:15 pm).
“Horrible back pass wasn’t it from Balogun? Absolutely horrible!”
Balogun impressive for Rangers at Celtic Park
However, that one incident does not take anything away from Balogun’s overall performance in the heart of Rangers’ defence against Celtic.
The 36-year-old was forced off the pitch 56 minutes into the game, but was an assured presence while he was on it, winning each of the four ground duels he attempted [FotMob]. He was also formidable in the air, winning four of his seven aerial duels.
| Minutes | Touches | Accurate Passes | Defensive Actions | Ground Duels Won | Aerial Duels Won |
| 56 | 26 | 9/11 | 9 | 4/4 | 4/7 |
Balogun registered nine defensive actions in total, including six clearances and two interceptions, while winning the only tackle he attempted.
However, the veteran was not as involved in possession, registering just 26 touches and completing nine of his only 11 passes.
He, though, attempted two shots and completed both of the two dribbles he attempted.