Rangers were utterly dominant in Dingwall this afternoon as they defeated Ross County 4-2 at Victoria Park. Following their Europa League qualifier on Thursday night Steven Gerrard had demanded his team 'wake up' and it was clear from the 1st minute that his players had listened to him as there was a tempo and pace to Rangers play which had been lacking so far this season. Alfredo Morelos was linking well with Joe Aribo and Ianis Hagi, whilst Calvin Bassey, retaining his place at left back, offered an useful attacking outlet.
After a positive opening from the light blues there was no surprise that they made the breakthrough with less than 15 minutes of the match gone. Great hold up play from Morelos, saw Joe Aribo pick the ball up just inside the left hand side of the box. He cut inside onto his left foot and then unleashed a wonderful dipping, curling strike which flew into the top corner of the net, leaving Laidlaw the County goalkeeper with no
Five minutes later and Rangers were 2-0 up. The build up play was patient and probing as Davis and Aribo worked the ball wide to Tavernier whose ball into the box was turned behind for a corner. Tavernier himself took the corner playing a deep ball into the box where Connor Goldson rose magnificently with a towering header into the corner of net. Rangers were rampant and were very nearly 3-0 up 3 minutes later when Davis picked out Hagi whose right foot shot was pushed onto the post by Laidlaw.
With just over half an hour played Rangers were two goals in front, had forced 10 corners and were in complete control of the game. Yet following a late challenge from Aribo which saw him earn a deserved booking, Rangers lost an edge to their play and on 39 minutes Ross County were given a lifeline. A free kick from an innocuous position was not dealt with and when the ball was played back into the box McGregor made an outstanding save only then to see the rebound drop to Arsenal loanee Harry Clarke who finished well.
The halftime scoreline did not reflect Rangers first half dominance and early into the second half Rangers scored again allowing the scoreline to more accurately reflect their dominance. Bassey played in Kent on the left and his cross broke kindly to Kamara. The Finn showed enormous calmness as he stroked the ball to Morelos who sent a low left footed shot into the corner. It was a deceivingly good finish from Morelos but questions will be asked of Laidlaw the County goalkeeper.
With Rangers in the ascending chances continued to be created and squandered with the best falling to Tavernier who was put through by Aribo before clipping the ball over both the goalkeeper and the bar. Inexplicably with fifteen minutes left County were once again thrown a life raft when Calvin Bassey was adjudged to have handled the ball in the box. The ball was dispatched by White and somehow County had scored two goals in the game.
If there was any doubt creeping into the Bears minds that they wouldn't leave the Highlands with the 3 points these were firmly dispelled on 83 minutes when Scott Arfield finished an excellent move, started by an impressive press and tackle from John Lundstram. A cut back from Tavernier fell to Arfield who placed the ball into the corner and as he saluted the fans they knew the 3 points were safe.
It was a much improved performance from Rangers today which showed signs of last season's juggernaut starting to come back to life. Their was intensity in the teams passing, a willingness to be brave and decision making, on the whole was much better. Aribo was outstanding, not only with his goal but his overall play which was a complete midfield performance of incisive passing, committed tacking and linking of the play between defence and attack.
He was helped in the middle of the park in no small way by Glen Kamara whio highlighted today, once again the important role he plays in our team. He controls much of our tempo and drive and nearly everything that is good in the team goes through Kamara. Bassey did well again at left back, although will be disappointed to have given the penalty away. Goldson and Tavernier looked to have played themselves back into form although the jury remains out on Ryan Kent. It was a much better performance from him today, but given the low bar so far this season, it's fair to say we are still to see the best of him. Had Scott Wright been fit today it would have been interesting to see if Kent had started.
Defensively there has to be concerns that Ross County were twice allowed to get footholds back in the game due to a lack of concentration in defensive situations. Whilst it's unrealistic to expect to reach the levels of last season in terms of goals conceded it's clear that better teams than Ross County will definitely feel more confident about scoring against us than they did previously.
With two games remaining in August we must now aim to finish the month on a high with two victories. Doing so will set down a marker for the rest of the season and remind everyone why we are Champions.
McGregor, Tavernier, Goldson, Balogun, Bassey, Davis, Kamara, (Lundstram 74) Aribo, (Roofe 83) Hagi (Arfield 78), Morelos, Kent
WDTCR
💙
No comments:
Post a Comment