It was one of those very rare days – Rangers dispatching Old Firm rivals Celtic with remarkable poise and confidence – in which no one in Philippe Clement’s team fell below a seven or eight out of ten.
Perhaps the only one who could be considered for a lower rating is Liam Kelly, the goalkeeper living his ‘childhood dream’ in Jack Butland’s absence. And that says far more about Celtic’s blunt attack – one shot on target across the 90 minutes – than it does about the underworked Kelly in the Rangers net.
Nico Raskin was the Old Firm derby’s ‘outstanding’ performer – to quote Celtic legend Chris Sutton – but the beligerrant Belgian was ran pretty close by Nedim Bajrami, Dujon Sterling, Ridvan Yilmaz, Robin Propper, Vaclav Cerny and Ianis Hagi.
Hagi opened the scoring just seven minutes in, and then proceeded to remind the Rangers fans what could have been had that contract wrangle been sorted a few months earlier.
Propper produced his best performance in a blue jersey, capping it with a goal. Yilmaz and Jefte marshalled Daezen Maeda and Nicolas Kuhn superbly at one end, meanwhile, and also provided a genuine threat at the other.
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Kris Boyd hails Rangers stars Nico Raskin and Ridvan Yilmaz after Celtic thrashing
In Clement’s own words, a defensive injury crisis was hardly ‘perfect preparation’ for a game of such high importance. But as regular starters such as Butland, James Tavernier and John Souttar was forced to watch on from afar, seldom has the strength in depth as Clement’s disposal been more apparent.
Especially when Danilo stepped off the bench to add Rangers’ third late on.
“They asked players to come in. We said there might be an opportunity for players who hadn’t been playing to come in and stake a claim,” former Rangers striker Kris Boyd tells Sky Sports.
“I thought Ridvan Yilmaz was excellent. I thought Dujon Sterling and Robin Propper played like proper defenders – alright they weren’t asked a lot by Celtic – and Jefte was up and down all day.
“Nicolas Raskin was outstanding. Vaclav Cerny and Ianis Hagi with that little bit of quality…”
The frustration for Boyd, however, is that performances such as this have been relatively few and far between. Had Rangers not dropped points in far easier outings – they lost to St Mirren and drew with Motherwell in the build up to Celtic’s trip to Ibrox – then a statement win in their first outing of 2025 could have breathed fresh life into the Premiership title race.
Instead, it leaves Rangers 11 points off the pace rather than 17.
Boyd wants Rangers to keep momentum away to Hibernian
“It’s a good day for Rangers,” Boyd adds, as frustrated as he was thrilled with the manner of their display. “But you then think to yourself; ‘Where has this team been?’ We have seen it [only] in glimpses.
“Away from home, Rangers have been nowhere near good enough. Ibrox has not been the problem. European football on Thursday nights has not been the problem. It’s been away from home that has cost Rangers so far this season.
“We’ve seen performances like this but they have to back this up. They will be at Easter Road, Dens Park the following week. These are the games that will tell us more.
“I can enjoy tonight but then I think the reality will set in that you’re still 11 points behind, but taking nothing away from Rangers I thought to a man they were excellent today.”
The likelihood is that Rangers will travel to Hibernian without Butland or Tavernier, Clement suggesting that neither player is likely to be available in Edinburgh.
And wouldn’t it be so typical of their season if The Gers were to slip up at Hibs just days after thrashing Celtic on their own turf, the gap at the top returning to 14?
