Glasgow Rangers slumped to their second Old Firm defeat of the season this afternoon, in a derby which was arguably dominated by a woeful showing by referee Nicky Walsh.
The Gers were uncharacteristically poor, no doubt about it, yet Walsh failed to show Alistair Johnston and Paulo Bernardo second yellow cards following fouls in the second half which may have turned the game on its head.
As it is, the 2-1 defeat is the first for Philippe Clement during his spell in charge of the Light Blues, and it is clear there is still a lot of work to be put in if he aims to challenge Celtic for the Premiership title.
Even amid the frustrations surrounding the officiating, several players underperformed for the club and the display was summarised by Leon Balogun receiving his marching orders in the second half for a foul on Daizen Maeda.
Leon Balogun’s game in numbers vs Celtic
The centre-back partnered Connor Goldson at the heart of the defence and considering he had lost just twice against Celtic prior to the match, it looked like a solid defensive duo.
The defender did win five of his seven duels throughout the clash, yet he lost possession ten times and made just two tackles.
His passing was poor as the Nigerian completed only 18 of his 25 attempted passes and with the hosts pressing the Gers defence at every available opportunity, this made it hard for the veteran to successfully find a teammate.
During the second half, he took a heavy touch which presented Maeda an opportunity to push through on goal, but Balogun wrestled with the Celtic star and brought him down, receiving a red card in the process.
Despite this, it was Cyriel Dessers who was one of the worst Rangers players on the field as he failed to contribute anything meaningful.
Cyriel Dessers’ game vs Celtic in numbers
The 29-year-old was given the nod to lead the line against the Parkhead outfit, but his performance failed to strike fear into the Celtic backline.
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The summer signing missed a major chance during the first half as he found himself through on goal but took too much time to set up a shot and fluffed his lines.
Journalist Jordan Campbell dubbed this lack of composure as “absolutely horrendous” and failing to take key chances like that is what cost the Light Blues during the clash.
Analyst John Walker dubbed Dessers as “atrocious” for his display and during his time on the field, he took just 26 touches, which was 13 fewer than Jack Butland in the sticks – a clear sign of his lack of involvement.
In truth, that is simply not good enough at Parkhead, especially when a win could have closed the gap at the top of the table.
The striker was a liability defensively too, winning just three of his 14 total duels and losing possession six times along with committing four needless fouls and Clement will have some thinking to do ahead of the tie against Kilmarnock next week.
Dessers received a rating of just 4/10 for his display against Celtic, according to the Herald, and having shown some recent signs of improvement under the Belgian coach, this performance firmly places him back at square one.
A debut for new addition Fabio Silva in January can't come soon enough…