at one goal and ease the rising tension among the Ibrox supporters.
To be honest,
the Gers would have lost this game to Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Michael Beale,
but now that Philippe Clement is in charge,
it seems like something amazing is in the works.
Most players gave a good performance last night,
but Jack Butland’s intervention in the penalty area changed the game for the Light Blues once again.
The Englishman had only played in 23 league games prior to the game,
but he had 15 clean sheets,
and his performances had helped the Gers have the best defensive record in the Premier League.
In addition to making three saves and finishing the game with a perfect run-out percentage,
Butland was partially to blame for Bojan Miovski’s goal despite the fact that Connor Goldson was caught off guard by a long ball over the top.
Clement is aware that he can rely on his goalie,
and this is exactly what the team has been lacking for the past three seasons—a reliable goalie who can save them ten to twelve points per season.
It’s interesting to note that despite starting ahead of Fabio Silva, Cyriel Dessers was the only player on the field to receive fewer touches than Butland during the game.
Cyriel Dessers’ game in numbers vs Aberdeen
Last Saturday, Silva made his Rangers debut against Livingston and produced a strong performance in addition to his first goal. It made sense for Clement to play Dessers against the Dons early on since games are coming up quickly, but he delivered yet another terrible performance.
The 29-year-old was mainly unsuccessful in front of goal; in his 57 minutes on the field, he took just 28 touches, two fewer than Butland, completed only 16 passes, and had two shots on goal.
Dessers was bullied off the ball far too frequently, and with the score tied, the Belgian manager was forced to substitute him. He also lost all of his attempted duels, both aerial and ground.
Silva was a far more dangerous attacker, winning seven of his eleven duels and scoring on two of his three dribbles. In the last moments, he had a chance to make it 3-1, but his effort went just wide of the net.
Before any more games, Clement needs to take into account that the on-loan starlet gives so much more than Dessers, who is just too one-dimensional.
Three points was all that mattered against the Pittodrie team, and the fact that the Gers trailed by seven points after just seven games speaks volumes about how good they have been under the 49-year-old coach, who has given life to what previously appeared to be an impossible title campaign.
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