Glasgow Rangers followed up on their European success with a 1-0 win over St. Johnstone away from Ibrox in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday.
The Scottish giants swept OCG Nice aside with relative ease in the Europa League on Thursday, winning 4-1 in France, and made sure that they did not get too complacent when back in domestic action.
Whilst it was not a brilliant performance from Philippe Clement’s side, the Light Blues did enough to secure all three points and were good value for it, with 17 shots to the host’s four.
An own goal from midfielder Jason Holt in the second half proved to be the only goal of the game, after Nedim Bajrami, Vaclav Cerny, and Hamza Igamane all flirted with the back of the net in the opening 45.
A win and a clean sheet, however, is the headline news and it should be taken as a positive, as the Gers did not allow the host to gain control at any point in the match.
Another positive from the game was the performance of the returning Ianis Hagi, who was selected from the start as the number ten in the 4-2-3-1 set-up.
Ianis Hagi's impressive showing
The Romania international started in the Premiership for the first time since the 27th May 2023 against St Mirren in a 3-0 win under Michael Beale.
After returning from his loan with Alaves last season, Hagi was initially banished to the B team due to a contractual issue that would have seen his wages rise if he had hit a certain number of games.
The Daily Record reported that the situation was then resolved after several senior players and board members pushed for him to be reintroduced, and the former Genk star has since been brought back into the squad after his contract issue was ironed out behind the scenes.
Hagi made his first start of the season, and his fourth appearance, against St. Johnstone on Sunday and caught the eye with an impressive and energetic display.
The headline of his performance was his ‘assist’ for the winning goal. It does not count as an official assist for the forward but it was his fantastic volleyed cross to the back post that, essentially, forced Holt to score an own goal to prevent James Tavernier from tapping into an empty net.
Minutes
90
Chances created
2
Shots
3
Pass accuracy
79%
Duels won
4/7
Possession lost
19x
As you can see in the table above, Hagi was constantly looking to make something happen at the top end of the pitch with three shots taken and two chances created, along with his involvement in the winning goal.
He did lose possession 19 times in total throughout the game but that was because the attacking midfielder was taking risks in order to progress play for the team, which inevitably led to some giveaways.
Whilst Hagi was one of the stars of the show for the Ibrox giants on Sunday, the real hero for Clement was central midfielder Nicolas Raskin.
Nicolas Raskin's performance against St Johnstone
The Belgian dynamo was selected alongside Connor Barron in the middle of the park for the Light Blues and set the tone for his side early in the match with his energy.
Raskin was constantly pushing forward to put pressure on the St. Johnstone players when they had the ball, either to make a challenge, to force them backwards, or to force them into making a mistake in possession.
His pressing work, alongside the likes of Igamane, Hagi, and Barron, pinned the home team back and helped Rangers to enjoy 61% of the possession in the match.
Pass accuracy
94%
Touches
94
Tackles
4
Possession lost
6x
Ground duels won
6/9
Aerial duels won
3/3
Successful dribbles
1/1
As you can see in the table above, Raskin had the best part of 100 touches of the ball and only gave it away six times, which speaks to his incredible efficiency in the middle of the park.
He also won 75% of his duels on the ground and in the air combined, as the Belgian midfielder was able to dominate the opposition out of possession to consistently win the ball back.
Performance in Numbers
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The former Standard Liege star, who made four tackles, was the real hero for Clement because he combined quality and reliability in possession with strength, energy, and desire off the ball, to dominate the game.
Nicolas Raskin's form this season
It was just the latest in a long line of strong performances from the January 2023 signing, who has emerged as a key player for the Belgian head coach in midfield.
After missing out through injury at the start of the campaign, Raskin has started seven of his ten appearances in the Premiership and three of his five outings in the Europa League this term.
The 23-year-old battler has yet to contribute with a goal or an assist to directly influence matches in the final third, but that is because he is doing the bulk of his work in deeper areas of the pitch – picking the ball up off the back four and progressing it to the attacking players.
As was the case against St. Johnstone, Raskin picks up positions to receive passes from the centre-backs and then looks to find the wingers or the number ten to spark attacks for his side.
Appearances
10
Touches per game
59.6
Pass accuracy
90%
Tackles + interceptions per game
3.6
Ground duel success rate
66%
Aerial duel success rate
58%
As you can see in the table above, the Belgian ace has provided consistent quality in his actions in and out of possession for the Scottish giants in the top-flight this season.
He has been a reliable operator defensively for the Light Blues, winning the majority of his duels on the ground and in the air, and that allows him to press high and compete with opposition players to win the ball back.
Clement will now be hoping that the Rangers gem can continue with his current performance level for the rest of the season, to help the club to compete for trophies.
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