‘Oh my word’ – BBC pundit stunned by Rangers star’s massive failure vs Celtic
Youssef Chermiti left onlookers aghast during his performance for Rangers amid a chaotic Old Firm clash with Celtic at Hamden Park.
The Portuguese forward started in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final with the Light Blues looking to make it three wins on the bounce, with Rangers needing to put some pressure on new Hoops boss Martin O’Neill.
Rangers’ 1-0 win over Hibs in midweek had lifted spirits but it looked to be more of the worst elements of Russell Martin’s, and his predecessors’, reign all over again early at the national stadium and Chermiti was arguably the worst offender.
During a dreadful first-half performance from Danny Rohl‘s men the former Everton forward had a glorious chance to give his side the lead, and capitalise on a major reprieve.
A Nico Raskin own-goal moments earlier had been ruled out by VAR for a narrow offside when Mohamed Diomande found Chermiti in the centre of the Celtic box with an excellent pass.
But faced with just Kasper Schmeichel and a gaping goal the Portuguese somehow contrived to miss both entirely and send it wide.
Youssef Chermiti spurs incredible Rangers opportunity
Celtic duly punished Rangers as Johnny Kenny headed home after a few minutes and, after Chermiti had missed another inviting opportunity at the back-post, Thelo Aasgaard was shown a straight red by Nick Walsh as the game slipped out of reach.
Speaking live on BBC Sportsound Billy Dodds couldn’t believe how poorly the Gers striker had dealt with such a guilt-edged chance after missing the initial opportunity.
He said in the immediate aftermath: “Some pass from Diomande, suddenly they get the wing-backs high, [Jayden] Meghoma flying past him and Diomande with a brilliant pass.
“[Chermiti’s] always getting there first! He’s got to lift it, he’s got to get it over the goalkeeper, do something, but make sure you hit the target even if the goalkeeper saves it.
“But to put it wide, oh my word. What a chance.”
A spirited second-half fight-back has since sent the match into extra time thanks to James Tavernier‘s penalty equaliser, but Rangers only made it back into the game after Chermiti had been replaced by Bojan Miovski.
Rangers dreadful at the front and the back from kick off
Chermiti deserves to be in the spotlight for his failure to put the ball in the net when presented with the opportunity.
He’s arrived at Ibrox as the most expensive signing in recent memory at up to £10 million and had delivered just one goal in 10 outings across all competitions heading into the Old Firm clash.
He should have doubled, if not tripled, that tally at Hampden and unless or until he properly finds his feet he is going to be a huge millstone around Kevin Thelwell’s neck.
But he was far from alone in contributing to a performance which handed Celtic all the confidence they might have needed, with Nasser Djiga all over the place at the back from the first minutes and none of his defensive teammates looking much better.
The improvement after the break has been admirable, but the Light Blues gave themselves such an uphill fight in the first place that surely could have been avoided.
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