Umar Sadiq’s dive has now been well documented in the press over the last week. We know how costly a moment it was for Rangers, but what about for him individually?
The Nigerian was given his big chance to impress against the Dons last Sunday. Sadiq had yet to be in a starting line-up since arriving at Ibrox in the summer. He was, however, the man Steven Gerrard picked to cover for Alfredo Morelos and Kyle Lafferty.
The call shocked many supporters and even us at Rangers News. We thought for certain that Sadiq had absolutely no chance of featuring, and that it was a toss-up between Eros Grezda and Ryan Kent.
To say the decision was a huge mistake would be unfair. Supporter scrutiny has been over the top on the big front-man, and exaggerated largely by the disappointing result for supporters.
Yet, how different would it truly have been if he had stayed on his feet and netted to make it 1-1? He rounded Joe Lewis expertly, and just needed to slide it home. Instead, the towering striker threw himself to the deck, and showed a huge deficiency in his confidence levels.
Stopped him becoming a hero
It was, most certainly, the moment that stopped Sadiq from becoming a Rangers hero and turned him into a Rangers flop.
Make no mistake about it, he was decent outside of that moment of nonsense. His persistent tendency to be off-side was a tad infuriating for supporters, but he was making positive runs and showing some good signs.
His build-up play was also commendable. He gave Scott McKenna and Michael Devlin more problems than the score-line and stats would suggest. It was by no means a catastrophic performance, and he deserved a tad more.
He can, however, only have himself to blame for his moment of madness when through on goal. If he had netted that chance, many would’ve mentioned the positive aspects that we have here. Instead, the focus was all on that shocker of a dive.
For us, it was the moment that solidified Sadiq as a Rangers flop. He’s likely to never feature again for the club after Gerrard’s comments post-match. Whether they were fair or not is down to your interpretation.
Regardless, Sadiq had his big chance when through on goal and he blew it. If he hadn’t, he would’ve thrown himself right into the mix for coming games.
Instead, all he’ll be remembered for was a terrible dive in a horrible evening for the club.
