Rangers were beaten 1-0 by rivals Celtic this afternoon.
Rangers suffered defeat in Steven Gerrard’s first Old Firm game as Celtic ran out 1-0 winners at Parkhead this afternoon.
The Gers went into the game having gone 12 games unbeaten under new boss Gerrard, and even advanced into the Europa League group stage having seen off FC Ufa on Thursday afternoon.
Unfortunately for Rangers, their exertions in Russia – holding on with nine men before their huge journey home – seemed to leave Gerrard’s men tired, and Celtic were rampant in the first half.
The Bhoys hit the woodwork three times before finally opening the scoring, with Olivier Ntcham finishing off a sweeping counter-attack, with Rangers boss Gerrard unhappy with a challenge on Ryan Jack in the build-up.
Rangers attempted to get back into the game but couldn’t break Celtic down, and fans were understandably disappointed to see Gerrard’s unbeaten run end, with a number of players failing to really turn up at Parkhead.
One of the more disappointing performances came from captain James Tavernier, who was the subject of a failed loan bid from West Bromwich Albion on Friday, as reported by The Scottish Sun.
Tavernier started at right back against Celtic despite fans wanting him to play further forward due to his defensive deficiencies, and Celtic exploited that through Kieran Tierney, whilst Tavernier’s crossing wasn’t up to his usual standard either.
Fans took to Twitter to slam Tavernier, suggesting that he isn’t good enough to start or be captain and is clearly the weak link for Rangers right now, with others claiming that he can’t hack it in big games, and is something of a flat-track bully.
Some again called for Tavernier to be pushed forward into midfield, whilst one fan suggested that Tavernier was missing winger Daniel Candeias in front of him thanks to their strong understanding, as Gerrard went with new signing Ryan Kent instead.
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