Former Rangers favourite Daniel Candeias outperformed Man United star Bruno Fernandes and a host of other top players with a dazzling weekend display for Gençlerbirligi.
The 32-year-old winger was a popular figure across his two-year stint at Ibrox, winning fans over with his industry on the right flank and his ability to produce moments of magic.
He left the club to join Gençler in July 2019 and has since established himself as a regular starter for the Super Lig club.
Candeias is set to be key to their hopes of staying in the Turkish top-flight and he starred in their win over Kayserispor on Monday.
The former Ger was instrumental as the hosts came from behind twice to win 3-2, scoring his side’s first goal with a sharp first-time left-footed drive and playing a big part in their second through an excellent cross from the right.
He was denied an assist when a second-half goal was disallowed by VAR, but a calamitous 89th-minute Oguzhan Capar own goal gave Gençler just a fourth win of the season and took them out of the relegation zone.
Candeias was the standout player across the 90 minutes, succeeding with all three of his attempted dribbles, delivering four key passes and making four interceptions on his way to a SofaScore rating of 8.3.
That rating was the highest achieved by any Portuguese footballer playing in an overseas league over the weekend, including Bruno Fernandes of Man United, who scored in a 2-2 draw at Leicester City, as well as other Premier League stars such as Joao Cancelo of Man City and Wolves’ Ruben Neves.
It’s a significant achievement for Candeias and the second time he’s outperformed the likes of Fernandes and Cancelo this month, as he also received an 8.3 rating after scoring and registering an assist in a 2-1 win over Alanyaspor on 5 December [SofaScore Portugal Twitter].
There are plenty of current Gers stars faring well right now too, though, and a thriving midfielder is leading the Premiership passing chart ahead of a Celtic linchpin.