Cyriel Dessers confounds his critics and own misfortune to throw Rangers a Champions League lifeline
Much-criticised striker rescues Rangers in Poland
Cyriel Dessers continues to confound. The much-criticised striker pointed Rangers in the right direction with the last kick of a third qualifying round first-leg tie that had been preceded by a bizarre episode involving the match officials.
The original VAR team had been allegedly stood down for stealing a road sign on a drunken night out on the eve of the game.
But Dessers showed Rangers the way with a late, late equaliser to deny Dynamo Kyiv in Poland. His goal might go a long way to securing Rangers a £4million windfall providing they can now go on and make it into the Champions League play-off round.
Of course, that remains a big if. Rangers can’t savour the task of finishing the job 'back at their place’, as would normally have been the case. Their place is undergoing heavily delayed renovations, meaning it’s Hampden that will host the second leg next Tuesday night. At least Dessers’ opportunism has made the assignment slightly more straightforward after he prodded home Vaclav Cerny’s cross to make it 1-1 in the dying moments. Cerny, a summer signing on loan from VfL Wolfsburg, helped change the game when he came on for Ross McCausland on the hour mark.
Rangers were trailing to Andriy Yarmolenko’s first-half goal and it might have been worse for the visitors, who were guilty of sloppiness in possession. Still, Philippe Clement's side deserve credit for keeping focus. They had their own moments too, including shortly after kick-off when Heorhiy Bushchan needed to be alert to pull off a save from Tom Lawrence’s drive.
McCausland then saw an excellent curling effort crash back off the far post. Dessers, meanwhile, was strengthening the impression that he is the epitome of a luckless footballer, which is problematic for a striker.
Even when he did everything right, he was foiled, as happened seven minutes after half time. A fine ball from Jefte, who had come on at half-time for Scott Wright to make his Rangers debut, sought out Dessers, who directed a header downwards towards the far corner. It looked to be going in all the way until Bushchan made a belated leap to his left and tipped the ball wide. Dessers saw a header hit the bar and then post against Hearts on Saturday. Was this how it was going to be this season?
The striker was getting into the right positions but was still looking as though he was in the wrong movie.
The veteran marksman Yarmolenko had shown Dessers how it’s done. He was in the right place at the right time to knock in Vladyslav Vanat’s centre seven minutes before half time after Ridvan Yilmaz had lost the ball near the halfway line.
It looked like being the difference between the teams until Dessers earned his reward.
He doesn’t hide, he doesn’t shirk. He not only scored such a potentially priceless equaliser, but he played a significant earlier part in the move that created it. He was still in his own half when he touched the ball off to Lawrence, who in turn swept it wide to Jefte.
Dessers was duly flattened for his troubles and yet still got up, shook himself down and turned up where it mattered to poke home Cerny’s cross after Jefte had switched the play. Dessers might not be the luckiest striker but he’s among the hardest working. And boy, were Rangers glad to have him here.
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