RED CARD FOR THE RETURNING HERO
It was a night that Ibrox watched a hero and a villain. But the two players filling the roles were not who anyone expected. Prior to the kick off, every Rangers fan has been desperate to see Ianis Hagi back in the blue jersey. And at the same time, winger Vaclav Cerny has been something of a villain, with poor performances and a shocking open goal miss in midweek. By full time, they had both made the headlines, but not in the way the Ibrox crowd had anticipated.
Everyone knew beforehand that there would be a low attendance at Ibrox against St Johnstone. Everything had conspired to put people off from travelling. A ridiculous kick-off time, lack of public transport, live on television, and, of course, the stark truth that many fans have become increasingly scunnered by the results and performances of this Rangers team. The official attendance given to those of us in the media room was 44,744, but the reality was staring all of us in the face with so many empty blue seats. Plenty had decided to stay in the house.
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Philippe Clement came into the game on the back of a lesson from Lyon, and with the feelgood factor from the victory in Malmo now a fleeting memory. The Belgian boss will celebrate a year in charge before the next match against Kilmarnock, and analysis of his record suggests he should be feeling secure in the hotseat. Prior to St Johnstone, he has taken charge of 55 games with a very good win record of 67%, the overall record reading 37 wins, 9 draws and just 9 defeats. But the reason he has an increasing number of critics is in the games that really matter. Only 3 wins in 10 European games is not the form that Rangers fans have grown accustomed to in recent seasons, and of course his record of 1 draw and 4 defeats in 5 Old Firm matches is one that simply has to improve if we want to see silverware in the trophy room next May.
As well as big game failure, many critics point to often baffling team selection, and it’s a fact that Clement has only named an unchanged team twice in these past 12 months. And tonight he maintained his habit of altering the line-up by making two changes, one enforced. The injured Tom Lawrence was replaced by Ross McCausland, allowing Nedim Bajrami to move infield to the Number Ten role most fans wanted to see him in. Nicolas Raskin also came in, with young Connor Barron dropped to the bench. He would be joined there by Ianis Hagi, making a welcome return to the fold after his contractual situation was finally resolved. Those in the stands who thought tonight would see Tavernier and Cerny (at least) given time out of the side were disappointed.
Meanwhile, in the other dugout was Simo Valakari, the man appointed midweek by Saints. The Finn was a decent midfielder for the likes of Motherwell and Derby County and won 32 caps for his country. He moved to Perth from Latvian football, and inherited a team who were battered 6-0 by Celtic last weekend, and who have the ambition to simply finish anywhere above the bottom two. His first team selection also saw two changes from last time, with Aaron Essel and Ben Kimpioka the men coming in.
With the Union Bears in good voice, the match started and soon settled into the predicted pattern. The visitors got bodies back and made the middle of their defence hard to get through, and Rangers saw plenty of the ball with both Cerny and McAusland getting plenty of touches out wide. While the shape of the game was easily predicted, the fact Philippe Clement opted to slightly alter the team’s usual shape was something of a surprise. Diomande was being played in a much more forward role, Raskin being the only defensive screen in front of the defence. A 4-1-4-1 shape was being utilised, and it allowed Rangers to get plenty of possession near the Saints box. And in seven minutes, they should have scored. Skipper Tavernier took the first corner of the match, with Dessers rising unchallenged just a few yards out but sending the header over the top. It was a bad miss.
St Johnstone seemed to have just the one tactic, firing long balls in behind the Rangers defence in the hope that the rapid Ben Kimpioka could get on the end of it. They had very few sights of goal in a one-sided first half, but by the time the teams left the pitch for the interval, there had been just the one goal to show for so much of the ball. Tavernier had come close with a free kick and also a volley from the edge of the penalty area, and there seemed a decent penalty claim when Dessers was manhandled. Referee Dickinson was unmoved. Then after 33 minutes came the breakthrough.
It was a goal that was entirely down to one man. Vaclav Cerny hasn’t been the most popular player in the stands recently, but he showed his international class by skilfully beating his defender before curling a delicious shot into the far corner of the net from 18 yards out. There were a few more good positions in the remaining 12 minutes, but goalkeeper Ross Sinclair remained untroubled as Rangers saw shots blocked or players taking too many touches and being crowded out. Perhaps the only other highlight was the ovation given to Hagi when he warmed up on the touchline, the fans are expecting big things from the man back in from the cold.
And at the start of the second half, the fans’ hero was on the pitch, replacing Ross McAusland in a reshuffle that saw the Romanian play in the Number Ten and Bajrami moving to the left. Connor Barron also came on, replacing Diomande and also filling a more forward role than we have seen from him thus far. And within 15 minutes, Hagi had provided an assist. His pass found Cerny one on one with a defender inside the box, the Czech wide man then beating his with a clever change of direction before guiding the ball into the net. Another excellent finish, and a double for Cerny who was deservedly named player of the match.
It looked now set up for more goals and a convincing win, but the remaining talking point wasn’t a goal. With ten minutes left, Hagi caught Kimpioka with a late tackle on the ankle, and most in the crowd were surprised when a yellow card was shown. It hadn’t been intentional, but the Rangers player was out of control and caught his opponent with some force. Inevitably, VAR intervened, and when the official saw the action again on the screen, he took little time in changing his decision to red. The returning Rangers hero was in tears when leaving the pitch, his comeback will now be halted already with a suspension.
Rather than more goals, the Rangers priority was now about holding out. And things could have got very nervy if Nicky Clark’s good finish at the back post a few minutes later wasn’t ruled out for offside. But this time VAR’s intervention favoured Rangers, the flag confirmed as being correct after a lengthy check. Six minutes were added, mainly due to the VAR interventions, and we had the unusual sight of goalkeeper Jack Butland racing from his goal and sending a diving header out of play to deny a St Johnstone break. But the last meaningful action was at the other end, substitute Kasanwirjo seeing a screamer from 25 yards brilliantly tipped over the bar by the diving Sinclair. Rangers had reduced the gap at the top back to five points, had scored two fine goals, but the headlines will no doubt be all about the red card.
Manager Clement said after the match he was delighted for Cerny. The player had been very down after his miss against Lyon, but the goals were his reward for the hard work he puts in. The manager spoke warmly of the composure shown for both goals. As for Hagi’s red card, he thought real time the tackle lacked any great intensity, but once he saw the incident again he admitted it was a clear sending off. He described it as an attacker’s tackle, and spoke of being disappointed for the player who has shown excellent attitude in recent times. With there now being an international break, the manager gave an update on the current injury situation, confirming that Oscar Cortes will be out “longer term” and that Danilo is the one most likely to be back training by the time the team go to Kilmarnock.
