Cyriel Dessers both hero and villain as Rangers waste chances galore and Celtic stay top of the Premiership

3-1 victory moves Rangers level on points and goal difference but Celtic remain ahead on goals scored

Rangers striker Cyriel Dessers celebrates with Rabbi Matondo (left) after opening the scoring in the win over Ross County. (Photo by Rob Casey / SNS Group)

If this season’s title race goes down to the wire then Rangers will have to hope they can find their shooting boots in the months ahead.

Victory over Ross County by a three-goal margin or better would have seen Philippe Clement’s side overtake Celtic to move top for the first time since August 2022 but instead what unfolded was a night of missed opportunities. Lots of them.

Rangers duly fashioned the victory expected of them to draw level on points and goal difference but proved far too profligate in front of goal to still trail Celtic on goals scored.

County goalkeeper George Wickens had an inspired night, making a number of impressive saves, but the home side mostly only had themselves to blame.

Cyriel Dessers scored their first two goals, either side of a Simon Murray equaliser, to deliver the victory but he remains a cumbersome figure at the apex of the Rangers attack, a striker who misses far more chances than he tucks away.

He improved his goal tally to 14 but a more reliable centre forward – Lawrence Shankland for example – would surely have reached double that by this point of the season.

Rangers were not exactly rock solid at the other end of the pitch either, shipping a soft goal and giving County one or two second-half chances that kept the visitors theoretically in contention until John Souttar’s header sealed the victory in injury time.

Clement had tried beforehand to play down the significance of the occasion but the energy and expectation emanating from the Ibrox crowd told a different story.

The players perhaps felt it too as, from the first whistle, they laid siege on the visitors’ goal. In truth, they could have been five goals to the good in the first 25 minutes with the ball twice pinging off the woodwork, with various other efforts either repelled by Wickens or dragged off target. Don Cowie, taking temporary charge of County for the first time, must have been wondering just what he had let himself in for.

If this was all some rope-a-dope masterstroke from Cowie, however, then for a while it worked a treat. Rangers had forged in front after just five minutes, a terrific, lobbed finish from Dessers after a searching pass from James Tavernier, before proceeding to miss chance after chance.

County soaked up the blows then jabbed back with their first chance of their game just shy of the half-hour mark. Ibrox was temporarily stunned but what a clever goal it was, Eamonn Brophy lacing a ball from the touchline right across the six-yard box from where Murray couldn’t fail to score.

The mood switched in an instant, the early elation around Ibrox replaced with an impatient edginess. A second Dessers goal right before half-time probably spared the Rangers players from being booed off, the striker’s header from Tavernier’s cross finding the far corner of the net.

The second half followed a similar theme. Oscar Cortes’ introduction helped raise the tempo and Todd Cantwell looked forever eager but another Dessers blooper – mis-hitting his shot that looped like a parabola into Wickens’ arms – did little to help their prospects. Souttar’s header from Tavernier’s corner sealed the win but a frenetic late rally failed to provide the goal the home crowd – and Clement – clearly so desperately craved.