In the post-match melee of the game against Tottenham, Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland made a beeline for the player of the match.
Plagued by injuries for much of his two years in Glasgow, Nico Raskin embodies the recent improvement at Ibrox.
With every game, with every victory, he grows a little stronger. Against Ange Postecoglou’s expensively assembled English Premier League outfit, the Belgian had his best game in a Rangers jersey to date.
Replicate the same performance against Celtic at Hampden tomorrow and Rangers have a chance of nullifying their oldest rivals to retain the Premier Sports Cup.
‘I said it to him after the game, it’s one of the best — if not the best — I’ve ever seen him play,’ revealed Butland. ‘So hopefully he can top that on the weekend.
‘I’m really, really pleased for him. He’s been brilliant, as were so many the other night. I thought Dio (Mohamed Diomande) was fantastic as well. Hamza (Igamane), the way he led the line. Tav was brilliant. So was Jefte.
Jack Butland has hailed the performances of Nico Raskin during Rangers’ recent run
Raskin was a standout performer against Tottenham in the Europa League midweek
Hamza Igamane put Rangers in front in the second half against the English giants at Ibrox
‘They’re dealing with some real attacking threats and they were top. So Nico was brilliant, as was everyone else. We need more of that on the weekend.’
For Butland, progress at Rangers has always been a marathon and not a sprint. A test of endurance — for fans as much as players — with hurdles and obstacles to be overcome.
The first half of the race was a dogged test of staying power, the team gasping for breath after a 1-1 draw with Dundee United almost broke them. A day when Philippe Clement’s position looked untenable, promises of jam tomorrow rang increasingly hollow.
Trailing to a Sam Dalby goal and booed from the pitch by an irate fanbase at half-time, a frank exchange of views provoked a second-half improvement and, in hindsight, the point secured by Vaclav Cerny’s equaliser can be viewed as a turning point.
Evidence of unexpected powers of endurance.
A thumping win over Nice in France announced the arrival of Igamane as a Rangers starter. Marrying the results in Europe with some overdue consistency on home soil, victories over St Johnstone and Ross County followed, before a six-goal thrashing of Kilmarnock.
A Europa League point against a star-studded Tottenham side altered the narrative further. Rangers have a second wind now, with the final hurdle a long overdue win over Celtic.
Written off all of two weeks ago, Butland emits a wry smile at the change of fortunes.
Phillipe Clement hopes to earn his first win over Celtic in six attempts this weekend
‘That’s what people tend to do with this club and hopefully we continue to disappoint people and get back to where we should be,’ said the former England No 1.
‘It’s a long journey. There’s still things that we need to improve, but we’re getting there and the work ethic and desire in the group and around the club is to be successful. We really want that.
‘There were things that we didn’t do in the first half of that Dundee United game. It wasn’t about the goal that we conceded. It was about what we didn’t do and the things that we just didn’t quite get on the same page with in the first half.
‘The second half of that game, we had it and we created enough chances to win two or three games. But sometimes things will go your way and sometimes it doesn’t. It didn’t that day and we got punished for it.
‘In recent weeks we’ve learned from that and really taken the game to people, which is what we need to do.’
The aggressive intent and intensity was apparent from the start against Tottenham. Sensing the vulnerability of a team with one win from their last seven, Nedim Bajrami forced Fraser Forster into a stunning fingertip save.
But for the former Celtic keeper — a thorn in Rangers’ side in the League Cup final of 2019 — Clement’s team would have overcome the loss of Dejan Kulusevski’s late equaliser to claim a famous victory.
In very Cyriel Dessers fashion, the substitute did everything right during a mazy solo run late in the game before Forster denied the home side a win for the ages.
Celtic’s Adam Idah scored the winner against Butland in last year’s Scottish Cup Final
The keeper was the only Spurs player to earn pass marks and that spoke volumes for the Rangers performance.
There was no time to bask in the afterglow. While Celtic flew home from Zagreb to rest and recuperate ahead of Hampden, Rangers were left with precious little time to do the same.
Despite dropped points in the league against Celtic, Dundee United, Hearts, Kilmarnock and Aberdeen, none of the slips followed a Thursday night game in Europe.
Butland added: ‘We’ve done Thursday-Sunday and Wednesday-Saturday for the last 18 months since I’ve been here and long before that. So, there’s no excuse on that front.’
Source link : http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=675ceed813234362bb68b48456cde215&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailymail.co.uk%2Fsport%2Fscotland-football%2Farticle-14191523%2FJack-Butland-backs-Rangers-star-shine-against-Celtic-Hampden-final-lighting-Europa-League.html&c=977619460137006137&mkt=de-de
Author :
Publish date : 2024-12-13 13:30:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
