Rangers recorded a dominant 3-0 win over Celtic today, and Fashion Sakala was in tremendous form as Michael Beale notched his first Old Firm victory.
The Zambia international put the icing on the cake for Rangers as he scored the third and final goal in the 70th minute.
As the clash at Ibrox came to an end, John Hughes – who was commentating on the game for BBC Radio Scotland’s Sportsound – heaped praise on Fashion Sakala.
Sakala shines for Rangers in 3-0 win over Celtic
Well – aside from his goal – Sakala delivered a fantastic all round display against Ange Postecoglou’s side.
Discussing his performance, Hughes – the former Hibernian, Raith Rovers and Ross County boss amongst other sides – said: “Man of the match, for me, Fashion Sakala. He’s looked like a proper number nine. He’s worked the line really hard.”
We can’t help but agree.
The Rangers No.30 really took the game to Celtic earlier on Saturday.
WhoScored shows that Sakala made three key passes – the most of any player on the pitch along with James Tavernier – while he also won five aerial duels.
No other player from either side – even any defenders – won as many duels with their head.
Sakala also embarked on five dribbles on an afternoon where he caused Celtic all sorts of problems.
The 26-year-old now has eight goals and nine assists in 38 appearances across all competitions this season.
It was a terrific display, and the Zambian deserved his goal after 70 minutes of tireless work before finding the back of the net.
With Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent on their way out of Ibrox this summer, Sakala’s efforts should ease fears about who will cause the opposition problems in attack next season.
Hopefully, the £8,300-a-week man can build on this display over pre-season and deliver similarly impressive performances on a regular basis in the 2022/23 campaign.
