Glasgow Rangers Enter 2025 having notched the old company's first win since May 2023 in a dominant performance by Philip ClementMen at Ibrox.
Ahead of the traditional festive clash between the two teams, Celtic were favorites to pile on the pressure on Clement as they looked to move 17 points clear in the league. Premier League.
The Rangers had other ideas. They established their dominance early with Ianis Hagi scoring a brilliant goal and the Light Blues never looked away from attacking throughout the match.
Second half goals from Robin Propper and Danilo secured an impressive 3-0 win with a host of players impressing throughout the match.
Rangers' best performance against Celtic
Honestly, it's hard to pick just one player. Everyone has fought for each other and shown a lot of fight against a team that has caused the club a lot of pain recently.
Nicola Raskin got the captain's armband and was fantastic. Belgian He won 60% of his contested duelsHe made two key passes and looked solid in the heart of midfield.
Hagi produced arguably his best performance since suffering a serious knee injury in January 2022.
In addition to scoring the opening goal, the Romanian made four assists, scored five shots, and sent in eight crosses.
On the opposite wing, Vaclav Cerny showed plenty of attacking intent, even hitting the woodwork twice during the match and should have added to his goal tally.
Rangers vs Celtic – key stats |
|
---|---|
Statistics |
Top rated |
Accurate passes |
Cameron Carter Vickers (86) |
Shots on goal |
Ridvan Yilmaz (3) |
He won ground duels |
Muhammad Diomandi (7) |
He treats |
Nicholas Kuhn (4) |
Key passes |
Vaclav Cerny (5) |
However, special mention must go to Mohamed Diomande, as the midfielder was the heartbeat of the team, showing his brilliance alongside Raskin at the heart of the Gers midfield.
Mohamed Diomandi's match in numbers against Celtic
Diomande did everything except score goals against Parkhead. Clement has used him as a number 10 at times this season, but this afternoon, his job was to nullify Celtic and take control of the game.
Finish The game has a success rate of 92%. While 54 touches of the ball speaks volumes about how much he likes it, he has never given the Celtic players a moment of peace to get into any sort of rhythm.
Although he may not have contributed much offensively, Diomandi did a lot defensively. In fact, the Ivorian won seven of his 11 ground duels, made three tackles and lost the ball just five times throughout the 90 minutes.
Even journalist Johnny MacFarlane praised it Diomande “Excellent” Along with Raskin and Hagi in the second half, it was a very mature performance from the young African.
Clement's maiden Old Firm win at his seventh attempt is sure to give the Light Blues plenty of confidence heading into 2025. The result should serve as an incentive for the club to move forward and try to catch up with their rivals at the top of the table.
Whatever happens, today's 3-0 win proved that Rangers are capable of taking on Celtic.