It’s never easy selecting a Man of the Match on days like this. To quote Kris Boyd, Rangers were ‘excellent, to a man’ in their 3-2 Old Firm derby win at rivals Celtic on Sunday.
Does Hamza Igamane’s stunning late winner earn him an extra individual accolade to sit on his mantelpiece?
Mohamed Diomande continued his fine form under Barry Ferguson by scoring the goal which put Rangers 2-0 up at half-time at Parkhead. Rangers News, meanwhile, felt that a colossal John Souttar was the best player on the park.
But Andy Halliday, a man who played in the centre of the pitch against Celtic himself in Old Firm derbies while suffering 4-0 and 5-0 defeats, could look no further than Nico Raskin.
In a week in which Raskin earned his first call up for the Belgian national team, and played a major role as Rangers reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League, this pocket rocket dynamo again proved that, while he may be relatively small in size, he is gigantic in influence.
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Nico Raskin ‘head and shoulders’ Rangers’ standout performer at Celtic
Raskin flicked home the opener with a clever header.
Former Rangers striker Kris Boyd thinks Ferguson is getting the best out of Diomande in the Ivorian’s more attack-minded position. He stroked in Rangers’ second, but it was made by another driving run forwards from another midfielder.
With Connor Barron playing deeper, Raskin had the freedom to bomb on and flick James Tavernier’s cross into Diomande’s path. A goal and an assist, plus the most tackles of any Rangers player.
Chris Sutton labelled Raskin ‘outstanding’ as Rangers thrashed Celtic 3-0 at the start of January. This, though, was a complete midfielders performance from a man who seems to add another string to his bow every other week at the moment.
“On a day where Rangers had so many stand-out performers, I thought Nico Raskin was head and shoulders the best player on the pitch,” Halliday says. “Head and shoulders!
“And what a week he’s had! Man of the Match, a goal and assist in an Old Firm game… It’s crazy. This new diet he’s on, there’s some engine in him.
“I thought, to a man, Rangers were excellent,” Boyd agrees. “Nico Raskin was excellent as well, along with Connor Barron who, for me, complemented Raskin really well. He mopped up when Raskin tried to get forward.
“He obviously scored the first one, he had a massive part in the second one as well, Nico Raskin. It was a really good afternoon for the wee man.”
Kris Boyd hails Barry Ferguson’s gameplan in Old Firm triumph
Much has been made about the dietary change which has sparked Nico Raskin’s ‘evolution’, to borrow the phrase used by former Rangers boss Philippe Clement.
Alongside the similarly tireless Barron and the mercurial Diomande, Ferguson appears to have unearthed a tactical system capable of getting far more out of a central trio which often found themselves on the periphery of games in Clement’s 4-3-3.
“I don’t think Rangers were outstanding on the ball but I thought the game plan they had was extremely effective,” Boyd adds. “And thats why they deserved to win the game.
“They allowed Celtic to play in certain areas and I thought their gameplay out of possession and when they won it back was excellent. Rangers forced Celtic into errors.”
