Cyriel Dessers believes Rangers’ early performance in the 2-1 Champions League qualifying win over Servette is “only the beginning” for Michael Beale’s new-look side.
The Light Blues boss and his team were widely criticised following the 1-0 defeat at Kilmarnock in the cinch Premiership opener at Rugby Park on Saturday.
There was a marked improvement in the first half of the third qualifying round first leg against the Swiss side at Ibrox on Wednesday night, with skipper James Tavernier scoring a penalty in the sixth minute.
Dessers tapped in a second eight minutes later for his first Gers goal since signing from Cremonese to experience an “amazing feeling”, although a handball by the Rangers new boy just before the break allowed Servette attacker Chris Bedia to pull a goal back from the spot.
The Light Blues were less effective after the break despite the visitors being reduced to 10 men in the 59th minute after David Douline picked up a second yellow card.
Speaking about the importance of the quick start and the demands of the Gers supporters, Dessers, 28, said: “That’s what we wanted. Of course after the loss on Saturday we were not a s*** team or anything like that.
“We knew we had to come out strong and show the fans what we can give them and what we can do as a team and especially the first half hour I think we showed that.
“That’s only the beginning. We are going to grow in fitness and relationships and as a team and it looks very promising.
“At Feyenoord, a similar club, the fans can react very emotional. But that’s what you want, you don’t want to be at a club where everybody just shrugs it off after a loss.
“You want an intense club and you get it in a positive way like Wednesday when you play good. That’s what you need after a tough loss and you get a reaction and at a big club like Rangers, that is normal.”
On his own performance, the Nigeria international said: “Of course I came to Rangers later so I still need some time.
“This was the first time I played more than 60 minutes. Overall, I had some really good moments, sometimes sloppy but that is all part of it.
“I am happy with this performance.”
Dessers acknowledged how difficult the return game in Switzerland next Tuesday night will be against a side who knocked Genk out in the previous round but remains confident of progressing through to the play-off where Rangers would face either PSV Eindhoven or Sturm Graz.
He said: “Overall it was a good night for us. Servette is a good team, a tricky team. I saw them over two nights against Genk and Genk are a really good team and they knocked them out.
“We dominated, we could have scored more maybe but this will keep us on your toes for next week.
“Of course if you can choose you want to go with a bigger lead but like I said, this will keep us on our toes.
“You cannot take anything for granted in Europe and we will need to go there strong and need a good performance to hopefully knock out Servette.”
Netherlands 5-2 Bosnia-Herzegovina: Zirkzee enjoys dream full debut
Joshua Zirkzee marked his first Netherlands start with a goal and an assist as Ronald Koeman's side kicked off their Nations League campaign with a 5-2 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The Manchester United forward opened the scoring early on at the Philips Stadion.
A quiet start to proceedings burst into life in the 13th minute as Simons' deflected effort dropped kindly for Zirkzee, who nodded the ball beyond Nikola Vasilj.
But with their second shot on target, Bosnia snatched an equaliser after Denis Huseinbasic's defence-splitting pass picked out Ermedin Demirovic, who finished smartly.
Teed up by Zirkzee, Tijjani Reijnders restored the hosts' advantage before teeing up Cody Gakpo, who maintained the goalscoring form he displayed at Euro 2024.
Bosnia provided a nervy finish to proceedings after Edin Dzeko neatly poked the ball beyond Bart Verbruggen, only for Wout Weghorst and Xavi Simons to seal the win in the closing stages.
Data Debrief: Gen Z(irkzee)
Having only held a one-goal advantage until the 88th minute, the scoreline eventually reflected the Netherlands' dominance in Eindhoven.
Koeman's side generated an expected goals (xG) total of 4.09, registering 28 shots, nine of which were on target, compared to their opponents' four and three.
Zirkzee, meanwhile, became the fourth player after Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Bas Dost and Vincent Janssen to contribute a goal and assist on their starting debut for the Netherlands.
It was also the first Netherlands game with three players representing the same non-Dutch club side (Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch and Gakpo for Liverpool) since November 2013 (Michel Vorm, Dwight Tiendalli and Jonathan de Guzman for Swansea City against China).
Germany 5-0 Hungary: Musiala wreaks havoc against Hungary
Jamal Musiala's scintillating performance led Germany to a 5-0 rout of Hungary in the Nations League.
Musiala was unstoppable as he scored once and teed up three more goals in a five-star display for Julian Nagelsmann's team in Dusseldorf.
The Bayern Munich star was involved in the opener when he saw a shot rebounded to Niclas Fullkrug in the 27th minute, with the West Ham striker making no mistake to slot home into an empty net.
Musiala eventually got on the scoresheet himself after the restart as he sprinted away from the Hungary defence on the counter and coolly finished past Peter Gulasci.
The 21-year-old turned provider once more in the 62nd minute as he laid the ball off for Florian Wirtz to strike home from the edge of the box, before he made it a hat-trick of assists when he played in club-mate Aleksandar Pavlovic.
In the only goal of the game not involving Musiala, Kai Havertz had to do it all himself. The Arsenal forward, who had previously rattled the crossbar, was tripped in the box before calmly passing his penalty into the bottom right corner.
Data Debrief: Musiala Magic
Musiala was at the centre of the action and provided four goal contributions (1G 3A) in an international match for Germany for the first time. The playmaker is the youngest player to register four goal involvements in a single Nations League game for any team.
Prior to Musiala's strike, Germany's last six goals in the Nations League had all been scored by Premier League players.
Germany really clicked into gear after the break, and are unbeaten in their last five Nations League matches when leading at the break (W3, D2) dating back to October 2018 against France (L1-2).
Carsley casts the credit to England's players after debut win
Lee Carsley insisted his England players "have to take all of the credit" after winning his debut match as England manager.
Interim boss Carsley oversaw a 2-0 victory over the Republic of Ireland in their Nations League fixture at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
It marked the first time Ireland have lost a home match against England since May 1964.
The former England Under-21s manager, however, was keen to credit his players after first-half goals from Jack Grealish and Declan Rice saw England over the line.
"The lads have to take a lot of credit, all of the credit. I think we've showed we've got some real talent and we can be really pleased with the clean sheet as well," he told ITV.
"I thought it was good in parts. You've seen some of the things we've tried to do."
Carsley, who represented Ireland as a player, was vindicated in recalling Grealish after his omission from the Euros squad in the summer as the Manchester City playmaker doubled the lead in the 26th minute.
"I thought they [Rice and Grealish] took their goals really well. Really well-worked moves and brilliant finishes. I think, moving forward, they can both add a lot more goals to their game," he said.
"Jack definitely doesn't have anything to prove to us, we can see his quality, but today will have done him the world of good, getting another goal for England and hopefully he can continue that form."
The new England manager also opted to start Anthony Gordon on the left wing after the Newcastle United winger had struggled for minutes on the pitch under Gareth Southgate at Euro 2024.
"On a really dry sticky pitch, it's not ideal for dribblers but I thought Anthony was a real threat. He's carried on his form from last season and he looks a really dangerous player," enthused Carsley of Gordon, who got all three of his shots on target and played two key passes.
The manager played his part in ending Ireland's four-game unbeaten run against the Three Lions on home soil (W1 D3), though England could have made their dominance pay more.
"I think you've got to give Ireland credit as well, they are very resilient, they closed the gaps and our space maybe became a bit wider [in the second half]," reflected Carsley.
"We found it a little bit more difficult to get through them but at 2-0 we were quite comfortable."
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