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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Ewan Paton

Rangers players rated after Celtic Viaplay Cup final loss

Rangers were second best in today's Viaplay Cup final at Hampden.

Celtic prevailed as 2-1 winners in the showpiece event at the national stadium.

Here's how Michael Beale's side fared...

Allan McGregor 7

Produced a good save from Jota in first half. Was troubled by a Kyogo header before striker eventually scored before the break. Kept his team in game latterly.

James Tavernier 7 

Defended well up against Daizen Maeda one-on-one but didn’t get across to block Greg Taylor cross quick enough for first goal. As per, got forwards well to help side’s attacking threat on the right. Nice delivery for Morelos’ goal. 

Connor Goldson 5

Caught sleeping for Celtic’s first, Kyogo was left totally free inside six-yard box for a tap-in after the centre-back got dragged out of position and wasn’t there to help Davies stop the ball going across face of goal. Lost Reo Hatate for the second as he assisted for Kyogo again. 

Ben Davies 6 

Handled occasion well but certainly appeared to be put off by Maeda’s fresh-air swipe at ball into box before Celtic’s opener. 

Borna Barisic 5 

Like Tavernier, provided a threat going forward but was caught out on occasion. Looked favourite to block Hatate’s cross for the second, but Kyogo nipped in front of him. Touch let him down in dying moments where he could’ve been in on goal. 

John Lundstram 4

Rangers really struggled to get a foothold in midfield. Lundstram is meant to be the enforcer, but he certainly wasn’t showing it. He was just back from injury, to be fair, but he had little to no influence on first half and beyond during his time on the field. 

Glen Kamara 5 

Like his midfield partner, he struggled to cope up against Celtic’s midfield. There were some good individual battles throughout, but the Finn was exposed easily on a few occasions.  

Malik Tillman 5 

Showed some flashy touches and looked dangerous when running at defenders. Pretty ineffectual overall it must be said. Caught wrong side of Aaron Mooy at second goal allowing him to pick out Hatate. 

Fashion Sakala 6 

Caused Greg Taylor all sorts of problems. Had the left-back turned towards his own goal on various occasions, as his dynamic speed, touch and directness proved tough to handle. Looked like Rangers’ biggest threat. Had to score moments after half-time as he hit side netting, an absolute sitter. 

Alfredo Morelos 7 

Did a lot of dirty work all afternoon. Typical deadly striker’s finish to get Rangers back into match. Was a great touch and nice finish from close-range. 

Ryan Kent 6 

Had a couple of poor first half effort sail over the bar. Picked up some neat positions between Celtic midfield and their defence. Clipped the post early in second half with trickling left-footed shot. 

Subs:  

Todd Cantwell (for Lundstram 64’) 3

Had no real influence on the game for time on the pitch. 

Nicolas Raskin (for Kamara 64’) 5 

Showed several neat touches of the ball and was much more alert than either Kamara or Lundstram were. Intelligent player 

Ryan Jack (for Tillman 64’) 4

Steadied the ship in midfield.  

Antonio Colak (for Morelos 75’) 3

Like Cantwell, didn’t really do much. Can understand why Morelos was frustrated going off. 

Scott Wright (for Sakala 84’) 2

On for final minutes. 

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