Rangers: Cedric Itten let Van Bronckhorst down this afternoon | OneFootball

Rangers were seconds away from securing a comeback victory in their latest Premiership match this afternoon, coming from 2-1 down to lead 3-2, only for a very late goal from Matthew Wright right at the death to deny them two points.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side took an early lead against Ross County through winter loan signing Amad Diallo in his first appearance for Rangers since joining from Manchester United a few days ago.

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Who did Rangers beat in their first game of 2021?

Celtic Aberdeen St Mirren Ross County

Two goals from County thanks to individual mistakes from Rangers duo Allan McGregor and Calvin Bassey put the hosts ahead by half-time.

In the second half, two Rangers defenders managed to get on the scoresheet, with captain James Tavernier netting an equaliser just a few minutes after the teams returned to the pitch, followed by a goal from Connor Goldson to put the visitors ahead again.

With a deflating late goal from County ensuring that the match ended 3-3, there was one Rangers player who didn’t have much of an impact on the team today and arguably let his manager down.

Itten let Rangers and Van Bronckhorst down

Starting at centre-forward in between wingers Diallo and Ryan Kent, Cedric Itten had just 28 touches of the ball in total, one fewer than McGregor in goal, before being replaced after 59 minutes by Kemar Roofe.

During his time on the pitch, the £2.7m-rated striker lost possession of the ball 10 times, got caught offside twice, committed one foul and lost six of his seven duels, highlighting the minimal impact he had before being withdrawn in the second half.

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This performance ultimately earned the 25-year-old an underwhelming overall match rating of 6.6/10 according to SofaScore, leaving only McGregor and Bassey with lower ratings among Van Bronckhorst’s starting XI.

The 3-3 draw in Dingwall gave Celtic the chance to close the gap at the top of the table to two points, which they duly did with a stoppage-time winner later in the afternoon. If the Hoops beat Rangers in Wednesday’s Old Firm clash, this would knock Van Bronckhorst’s side off top spot, which would be a nightmare situation for the Gers and leave the title race out of their hands.

This duly highlights just how much Itten’s performance today could have cost Rangers and their manager in the chase for the Premiership title.