Rangers: Hagi let Gerrard down vs Dundee | OneFootball

Rangers returned to winning ways in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday as they beat Dundee 1-0 away from home.

Steven Gerrard’s side had been held to a 1-1 draw by Motherwell in their last league match, although they did beat Livingston 2-0 in the cup during the week.

Joe Aribo scored the only goal of the game as the Gers picked up the three points and moved to the top of the table this weekend.

Despite the win, there were some negatives to Rangers’ performance and one of them was the display of midfielder Ianis Hagi.

Was Hagi disappointing?

Yes

Vote

No

Vote

The Romanian international is reportedly closing in on a move to Italian giants Roma, with the two clubs said to be working on a deal ahead of the January window. Perhaps the speculation over his future got to his head and caused him to lose focus in the game, with question marks surrounding his position at Rangers in the long-term potentially playing on his mind.

It is also worth mentioning that it was his first Premiership match since August due to Covid, but his performance was worrying all the same.

Defensively, he offered very little to the team. Per SofaScore, he won 50% of his duels on the pitch and failed to make a single block, clearance, tackle or interception. This suggests that he did not put in the hard yards for his team off the ball and did not press well enough throughout the match to win possession back for his side.

Perhaps he could get away with some lapse play off the ball if he provided quality in possession. However, he was also unable to make his mark offensively. Per SofaScore, he gave the ball away 16 times in his 73 minutes on the pitch, whilst also having three shots blocked and failing to produce a single key pass in his time on the pitch.

1 of 15

Who scored a hat-trick on their debut?

Carl Skomager Hansen

Egil Ostenstad

Peter Lovenkrands

Morten Wieghorst

Therefore, Gerrard will surely be frustrated and feeling let down by Hagi’s display against Dundee FC.

It was a disastrous performance and he will need to up his game if he wants to have a regular spot in the starting XI in the coming months.

He could also need to be wary of how his form could affect a potential exit, with Roma likely to be watching his displays for Rangers closely if they are trying to add him to their squad.

AND in other news, Forget Aribo: Rangers beast with 93 touches stole the show for Gerrard’s side…