Cyriel Dessers believes Rangers will go from strength to strength after new boss Philippe Clement began his tenure with a 4-0 win over Hibernian on Saturday.
The Belgian took over the hot seat last Sunday and was given a huge ovation before the game, which provided instant encouragement for the Ibrox faithful.
Rangers played more direct and with tempo and got their rewards after 17 minutes when attacker Abdallah Sima scored his seventh goal in seven games with a fine finish.
Midfielder Nicolas Raskin doubled the lead just before the break with a drive from distance, Sima added a third in the 65th minute and Dessers got his close-range goal 10 minutes from time to complete a comprehensive win.
The 28-yearold Nigeria international told RangersTV: “The manager wants us to play with energy and show it as well to the fans; high pressing, play aggressively and forward.
“We showed some bits of this, but there’s still a lot of growth left for us.
“I’m sure we’ll do that, and we’ll then be a team that is difficult to stop.
“It’s a part of the game that I like to do. I’m still growing to my best level, but this was a step towards it.
“I hope with the new energy inside the dressing room, with the new staff and the fans, that we can push on.”
Dessers praised substitute Todd Cantwell for setting him up for his goal which rounded off probably Rangers’ best performance of the season so far.
He said: “When Todd came on you could see his quality. I saw Tav (James Tavernier) making the run as he always does, and he pulled two defenders with him, so I became free at the last moment.
“It was an unbelievable pass from Todd to find me, I faked the shot, before putting it into the corner. I’m really happy about the goal.
“The atmosphere was unbelievable. The gaffer said at half-time that we had the fans behind us, that we need to keep up the energy, and we picked some early balls up in the second half and it got the crowd going.
“You can then see what’s possible at Ibrox and it was a nice afternoon to be playing with 50,000 people.”
A powerful Rangers performance ended the Easter Road side’s six-game unbeaten run – five under Nick Montgomery – and the Hibs boss said: “I genuinely thought we quietened them down at the start, played some good stuff, but the first goal is really important.
“After that it takes a bit of pressure off them, they get into the game a bit more. The second goal really did come at a time when we could have got back in the game.
“At 2-0 down, you have to come out and try to play. If you just sit back, you’re not going to score a goal.
“But we weren’t great in the final third. And a couple of sloppy mistakes at the back against clinical players cost us. That was the disappointing thing for me.”
Tuchel and Bayern fume at 'absolute disaster' after contentious offside call
Thomas Tuchel and Bayern Munich were left fuming after Matthijs de Ligt's contentious late strike was disallowed in their semi-final defeat to Real Madrid.
Bayern crashed out 4-3 on aggregate at Santiago Bernabeu after a dramatic double from substitute Joselu saw the hosts snatch victory to advance to the final on June 1.
Tuchel's side thought they had forced extra-time when De Ligt had the ball in the net, but the referee had already blown his whistle after the linesman raised his flag, so VAR could not intervene.
The replays showed that the original decision was closer than first thought, and the head coach bemoaned the lack of consistency after Madrid's second goal was awarded following a VAR review.
"I think it's pretty clear and there is no doubt that is against the rules of modern football," he said. "A disaster. An absolute disaster.
"With Real's second goal, they let the play continue. The clear rule is that the scene must continue. The first mistake was made by the linesman, the second by the referee."
Bayern had taken the lead through Alphonso Davies at the midway point in the second half, before Joselu's late intervention denied them a crack at a seventh title against compatriots Borussia Dortmund at Wembley.
De Ligt said the linesman had apologised to him after the game.
"[It is] very difficult. Of course, as sportspeople, we accept it," Tuchel said. "But it is a semi-final, it's not for two such mistakes.
"Everyone has to be at their limit. The referees have to be there as well. That is what we expect, so the apology does not really help."
Super sub Joselu 'the perfect reflection of Madrid', hails Ancelotti after Bayern brace
Carlo Ancelotti saluted Joselu after the striker climbed off the bench and scored twice against Bayern Munich to send Real Madrid through to their 18th Champions League final.
Following Alphonso Davies' earlier strike at Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid trailed Bayern 1-0 on the night and 3-2 on aggregate when Joselu replaced Federico Valverde with nine minutes of their pulsating semi-final tie remaining.
The 33-year-old, who is on loan from second-tier Espanyol, turned the tie on its head with two dramatic late goals.
First, he pounced on a rare mistake by Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer to stab in an 88th-minute equaliser, before volleying home Antonio Rudiger's cross in the first minute of stoppage time.
This was Joselu's eighth substitute appearance in this season's Champions League and Ancelotti praised the professionalism of his striker, who has now netted 17 times across all competitions, despite spending much of the campaign on the bench.
"He's a player who's contributed a lot this season, even if he hasn't played many minutes," the Italian said.
"But he's the perfect reflection of what this squad is: players who contribute a lot without losing confidence [if they're not playing] and the idea that they can offer the team something."
Ancelotti, whose side will play Borussia Dortmund in his sixth Champions League final as a manager on June 1, also hailed the character demonstrated by his players during another "magical" Madrid performance.
"It's happened so many times now, it's something inexplicable," he added. "It's happened again [thanks to] fans that push [us], a fantastic atmosphere and players who never stop believing that they can do it. It's something magical, there's no explanation for it."
Journeyman Joselu takes long, winding road to Champions League final
Real Madrid striker Joselu was in dreamland after he came on in the dying moments of their Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich on Wednesday and turned the game on its head with two goals to snatch a stunning victory.
Joselu, whose journeyman career has included spells at clubs such as Hoffenheim, Eintracht Frankfurt, Hannover 96, Stoke City and Newcastle United, only touched the ball a few times in their 2-1 second-leg win, but it was a night he is likely to remember for a long time.
He pounced on a rare mistake by Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer, stabbing the ball into the net to equalise for Madrid in the 88th minute, and just under three minutes later, he volleyed them into the lead from a cross by Antonio Rudiger.
"I don't know anything about being a hero, but I'm very happy... You can imagine," he said. "It was incredible, something spectacular. This team never gives up, it's in its blood to fight to the end and that's what we've done.
"You always dream of this kind of performance, but not even my most beautiful dreams are as big as what happened today."
On loan from second-division side Espanyol, Joselu's journey to becoming the semi-final hero has been long and winding in a career involving a dozen clubs across Europe.
He began his career at Celta Vigo before being bought in 2009 by Madrid, where he excelled in their B team but rarely made it to the first team.
He was sold to Bundesliga side Hoffenheim in 2012 and then loaned to Eintracht Frankfurt before joining Hannover 96 in 2014.
In 2015, he moved to Premier League side Stoke City, playing 27 times and scoring four goals, before spending two seasons at Newcastle United. He returned to Spain with Alaves, where he scored 36 times in three seasons.
He signed as a free agent with Espanyol in the summer of 2022, and a year later was loaned to Madrid and has scored nine goals in 32 appearances this season in LaLiga.
Joselu, born in Stuttgart, Germany, made his debut for Spain aged 33, coming off the bench against Norway to score twice in two minutes in March 2023.
"I don’t think Joselu will be sleeping much tonight, he’ll be useless in training tomorrow!" team-mate Jude Bellingham said. "He deserves it all, he’s been an amazing member of the squad all season, and it’s his night."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
