Fewer touches than Butland: Rangers dud who lost 100% duels let Clement down vs Dons

What could prove to be a significant win for Glasgow Rangers in terms of the Premiership title outcome on Tuesday night was achieved.

With just 20 minutes remaining, Todd Cantwell proved to be the hero of the match as he scored from a rebounded Tom Lawrence effort to tie the score at one goal and ease the mounting tension among the Ibrox supporters.

To be honest, the Gers would have lost this game to Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Michael Beale, but now that Philippe Clement is in charge, it seems like something special is in the works.

Most players played well last night, but Jack Butland was once again the Light Blues’ game-changer because of his presence in the penalty area

Jack Butland: This season’s best signing for the Rangers

The Englishman had only played in 23 league games prior to the match, but he had already kept 15 clean sheets, and his performances had helped the Gers claim the best defensive record in the Premier League.
In addition to making three saves and finishing the game with a perfect run-out percentage, Butland was partially to blame for Bojan Miovski’s goal despite the fact that Connor Goldson was caught off guard by a long ball over the top.

Clement is aware that he can rely on his goalie, and this is exactly what the team has been lacking for the past few seasons—a reliable goalie who can save them ten to twelve points per season.

Surprisingly, despite starting ahead of Fabio Silva, Cyriel Dessers did not perform well on the field and ended up with fewer touches than Butland during the affair.

Numbers from Cyriel Dessers’ match against Aberdeen

Last weekend, Silva made his Rangers debut against Livingston and produced a strong performance in addition to his first goal. It made sense for Clement to start Dessers against the Dons early on because games are coming up quickly, but he delivered yet another lackluster performance.

The 29-year-old was mainly ineffective in front of goal; in his 57 minutes on the field, he took just 28 touches, two fewer than Butland, completed only 16 passes, and had two shots on goal.

Dessers was bullied off the ball far too frequently, and with the score tied, the Belgian manager was forced to substitute him. He also lost all of his attempted duels, both aerial and ground.

Silva was a far more dangerous attacker, winning seven of his eleven duels and scoring on two of his three dribbles. In the final moments, he had a chance to make it 3-1, but his shot went just wide of the net.

Before any more games, Clement needs to take into account that the on-loan starlet offers so much more than Dessers, who is far too one-dimensional.

Three points was all that mattered against the Pittodrie team, and the fact that the Gers trailed by seven points after just seven games speaks volumes about how good they have been under the 49-year-old coach, who has given life to what once appeared to be an unlikely title challenge.

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