Glasgow Rangers enjoyed a wonderful Old Firm victory this afternoon as Michael Beale claimed his first win in the fixture at his fifth attempt.
Celtic arrived at Ibrox as the Premiership champions, but they looked a long way short of that in the Glasgow sunshine as the Gers were first to every ball and clearly wanted the three points more than their rivals.
It didn’t take long for the home side to take advantage of Celtic’s sloppiness, with John Lundstram’s shot being parried back out by Joe Hart into the path of Todd Cantwell, who slid a lovely finish through his legs.
John Souttar scored with a header before the interval and Rangers continued their dominance after the break, finally scoring a well-deserved third goal through Fashion Sakala, and although the three points means nothing in the title race, pride was at stake today and Beale will take massive confidence from this win.
Souttar was excellent in particular as he managed to bounce back from his woeful display against Celtic just a few weeks ago.
How did John Souttar perform vs Celtic?
During the previous league clash at Parkhead, Souttar started in place of Connor Goldson and didn’t enjoy the best of matches, receiving a Sofascore match rating of 5.8/10 while he misjudged a backpass to Allan McGregor which resulted in Jota snatching the ball and scoring a third Celtic goal that all but sealed three points.
The Scot was in much better form today, redeeming himself for that display in April, and he surely put himself firmly in Beale’s plans for next season.
He was absolutely solid this afternoon in what was only his fifth Rangers start of the campaign, yet his performance looked as though he had been a first-team regular for months, it was that assured.
The 26-year-old made four clearances, committed just one foul and was dribbled past on only one occasion, showing his maturity to not dive into tackles and stand his ground when Celtic were attacking.
Putting his physical presence to good use, the £8.1k-per-week gem won 100% of his aerial duels, lost possession four times and took 27 touches throughout the match, as the Gers were often in the opposing half, meaning he didn’t get on the ball as often as he would have liked.
His headed goal rounded off a stunning display, and this must make him believe that he can play a key part for the Gers following a season marred by injury problems.
