Scottish Premiership Saturday Highlights Show Matchday 3 part 1
Steven Thompson presents highlights from the day's fixtures in the Scottish Premiership, including Rangers v Ross County
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00:30Good evening and welcome to Sportscene. It's match day three of the Scottish
00:44Premiership and three is the number of games on offer tonight. Joining me, a
00:48debut for Ryan Jack and a man who's had far too many appearances, Michael
00:53Stewart. We begin at Hampden as Rangers face Ross County for the first time
00:58since their title hopes hit the skids against the staggies back in April.
01:04Here's the halftime whistle. Halftime Ross County nil, Rangers one.
01:11And Murray! It's all square in Dingwall.
01:19And Harmon! It's absolutely incredible.
01:23Sims! Three, one, counting!
01:31An almighty plot twist in the title race.
01:39That defeat last time out was arguably the turning point in last season's battle for the
01:44league crown as Rangers faltered and as early as this game comes you sense they can't afford
01:51many slip-ups if they're to mount a serious challenge this time around.
01:55Can County cause another shock this afternoon?
02:02Four changes for Rangers from the win over St Johnstone as Leon Baligan replaces the
02:06injured Robin Cropper, while Tom Lawrence, Connor Barron and Sunil Desirs are restored
02:11to the side with Diomondi, Dowell and Danilo on the bench.
02:16Don Cowie changes three from the bitter disappointment of defeat by Elite Two Spartans.
02:21Bici, Petit, Akeel Wright and Jack Greaves all come in with Brownleek and Chilberts dropping to the bench.
02:37Now this could be Rangers' last home game at the National Stadium.
02:41And for sure they'll be looking to sign off with a victory.
03:12...to the Bernoullis most recently.
03:18Ball into the feet of Lawrence, now Sterling for Czerny, tries to force it across goal.
03:26Going to take the corner.
03:27Czerny prepares to send in the corner, he's aimed at Baligan.
03:44Czerny's rather askew.
03:57It's just a good goal for Tavernier, he's able to take it in his stride and then try to feed Czerny,
04:04it'll come to him, and now back with the Rangers captain, chance here for Tavernier.
04:10Normally he would have let fly in that situation,
04:13unfortunately for Ross County he didn't, and they're looking to make a chance of their own
04:19on the counter, and it's Hale! And he forces a really good save from Butland,
04:23who clears it second time around.
04:27Hale almost opening the scoring at Hampden.
04:30Terrific save from the Rangers' keeper.
04:38That's Giffey.
04:40Nice turn from Lawrence, it's away from Nightingale, slips it for Dessas,
04:44it's a big chance for Rangers, lovely finish from Suriel Dessas!
04:48That is a really, really good goal.
04:51Giffey started it, Lawrence was the middleman, and Suriel Dessas finished it.
05:00It was the first moment of real quality from Rangers in the match,
05:04as Giffey and Lawrence provided the creative force, and Suriel Dessas did the rest,
05:12banging in his fourth goal of the season.
05:15Powered this pass, Ross Laidlaw.
05:18And Rangers are the lead.
05:26Nightingale, poor pass from him, Cerny.
05:29He's gonna set Dessas off on his way here.
05:32He's got Lawrence in support, Matondo's coming up but he might not need him!
05:36Tom Lawrence should have scored.
05:39That should be two.
05:40Ross County error, almost allowing Rangers to double their advantage,
05:46and really, Tom Lawrence knows they should have.
05:57McKeel right, just getting away with that, it was a heavy touch,
06:00but he's through the challenge with Lawrence, and also keeps it from Barron.
06:05And then he's played, he's still got it,
06:08and then he's played, his team-mate into trouble there,
06:11and Dessas has stolen it.
06:13Up against Nightingale, now it's Suriel Dessas,
06:16still he's going, was he taken down?
06:17On comes Matondo with the opportunity!
06:21And the outcome is a goal kick,
06:24as Matondo fires it off the top of the crossbar.
06:28Just couldn't keep the effort down.
06:32There's Cerny.
06:35Into Dessas.
06:37Nightingale in the way.
06:40Won't be a Rangers corner, though.
06:49Tavanier to deliver.
06:52Cerny to deliver, short corner's played, out the way,
06:54Suter rises!
06:56And it's gonna be another corner.
07:01And that brings the player down.
07:03Out-swinging ball.
07:06Needed the fingertips from Ross Laidlaw.
07:12So Rangers down to ten just for the moment.
07:15We do have this corner.
07:17Tavanier curls this one straight in,
07:19Suter can't get on the end of that one.
07:22No foul there, and Ross County on the counter.
07:26Four against four.
07:27Led by Denham, still Denham!
07:30And held by Jack Butland.
07:33Balogh wanted a foul for that nudge by Hale,
07:36referee thought otherwise.
07:38And Denham allowed to travel a long way before unleashing the effort.
07:43And options left and right,
07:45can't really fault them for taking the shot on, though.
07:49Diomondi coming on to replace Leon Balogh in.
07:54That means for their tactical set-up.
07:58Dujeon-Sterling back into the back four.
08:05Diomondi doing well, his first touch gets it back to Tavanier!
08:08And there's two for Rangers!
08:10And it's Rabih Matondo pouncing at the near post!
08:14Diomondi with an immediate impact.
08:19And Rabih Matondo opening the count for the season.
08:24Just before the interval.
08:28Diomondi's just on the park,
08:30anxious to get that back to Tavanier,
08:32it's a lovely ball in,
08:33and Rabih Matondo is just too sharp for the Ross County defence.
08:39As he tucks it beyond Laidlaw.
08:42To give Rangers a two-goal lead.
08:51Sterling.
08:53Arms that one out towards Chirn, lovely ball from Sterling,
08:56good take as well from Chirn,
08:58he gets the break of the ball against Harman,
09:00tries to roll it across goal.
09:02Uffeti hits something on it,
09:04De Souza's won it back from Harman.
09:07Now it's Jeff Dey.
09:09And Diomondi will curl it in towards the back post, it's inviting.
09:15Chirn will retrieve it.
09:17Tavanier.
09:19And it's in.
09:25It's Tavanier again.
09:28Diomondi takes it on!
09:31And it's not too far away from distance for Diomondi.
09:37Can he find that bottom corner?
09:39And it's just bending away, thanks to the relief of Ross Laidlaw.
09:46Sneak play from Diomondi, Lawrence.
09:50Back to Tavanier.
09:54De Souza now.
09:56For Jeff Dey.
09:58Make it the shot away here!
10:00Side-netting only for the Brazilian.
10:02Rangers just waited for their moment to spring the attack.
10:07And Jeff Dey, entitled to take that on, although he did have options in the middle.
10:16There's Matondo.
10:18Looking to add to his tally.
10:20Well, Rangers have added to their tally, and Surreal Desirs with a tap-in this time.
10:25As Matondo fired it into the six-yard box.
10:29And that was unmissable.
10:32And surely now the three points are wrapped up.
10:36Before the hour mark, Rangers have a third.
10:41Matondo bursting into life.
10:43And it's on a plate for Surreal Desirs.
10:48There's Chilvers.
10:50Looking to try and make some sort of impact.
10:52Hasn't quite measured that right.
10:54Oh, it's still in play.
10:56Tavanier, though.
10:58Unable to find Desirs.
11:00And here come Rangers on the counter, looking for a fourth.
11:02It's Matondo, he's one-on-one.
11:04Desirs in support, it's a lovely ball for Lawrence,
11:06it must be four, and it is!
11:08In the blink of an eye,
11:10Rangers win the game.
11:12It's a lovely ball for Lawrence, it must be four, and it is!
11:16In the blink of an eye,
11:18Rangers from one end to the other,
11:20and Tom Lawrence the latest to add his name to the score sheet.
11:24Tavanier doing well to win possession back on his own goal line.
11:28And then it's just another couple of passes.
11:32One from Desirs.
11:34Matondo making the right decision.
11:37Perfectly timed run as well from Lawrence,
11:40who scoops it past Ross Laidlaw.
11:43The game is well done and dusted now.
11:46And now Brown.
11:53Samuel for Brown again.
12:01Brown with the cross.
12:03It's well made by Hale,
12:05but Heather were a little off target in the end.
12:08Good ball in from James Brown.
12:15Hicks on Brown.
12:17Swings in a decent ball to the back post,
12:19it's missed by Harman.
12:21Cherney now.
12:24Still Cherney.
12:26And chance for Matondo!
12:28What a day it's been for Rami Matondo,
12:31James Brown couldn't keep it out.
12:34It's two goals and two assists for Rami Matondo.
12:38And that's why there's interest in him from elsewhere.
12:43In this form, Rangers can afford to get rid of him.
12:48Fraser again.
12:51Danilo.
12:53Gets the break of the ball the first time,
12:56and then he gets it back and Laidlaw denies him.
13:00Almost the comeback goal Danilo has been looking for.
13:06He's lucky to get the opportunity,
13:08Brown making a hash of it,
13:10but Laidlaw digging him out of the hole.
13:21Here's Tavenier, looks like he's got way too much in that,
13:24McCausland might reach it though, he does.
13:26Clear by right.
13:29Diamondi, curls it back into the danger area,
13:32it's gonna come for Danilo this time!
13:35Stabs it beyond Laidlaw.
13:38And he's back on the score sheet, Danilo.
13:42It's been a long time coming.
13:45He's had to endure months on the sidelines because of injury.
13:52But he's back in the park.
13:55Fortune about the way it comes to him,
13:57he won't care one jot.
14:00As he pokes it beyond Laidlaw.
14:03To make it half a dozen for Rangers.
14:07It's an emphatic win for Rangers,
14:09and if this is to be their last home game at Hampden,
14:12it's quite a way to finish things off.
14:15Danilo rounding off the scoring.
14:18Rangers score six for the first time since against Motherwell in October 2021,
14:23it's their biggest win since an 8-0 win against Hamilton in November 2020.
14:30Rangers cruising to victory over a poor Ross County side,
14:34it finishes at Hampden.
14:36Rangers six, Ross County nil.
14:40I didn't have yet a game where I thought everything was perfect,
14:44then we should have scored 10 or 11 today,
14:47I think to have a perfect afternoon, but it was a really good one.
14:51I'm happy that everybody from outside can see how hard the boys are working
14:56on all the details to become better and to grow as a team,
15:00and then you get results like this at the end.
15:02The result shows that it wasn't acceptable.
15:05When it gets to 2-3, you've got to have that pride to make sure it goes no more.
15:11So really disappointed that it finished 6-0,
15:14but we are a new group and we've got to learn very quickly.
15:19We've got a very important game next week that we need to dust ourselves down for.
15:23It's a big week and you want players in by the time you go to Celtic next weekend.
15:29How confident are you that you will have the players that you want?
15:32Of course we need the players before that because it will be the 1st of September,
15:35so after that we cannot get players in anymore.
15:38I'm confident that everybody in the club works really hard on that,
15:42the recruitment team, the board also,
15:46to pay the things and to make the decisions together with me
15:50to get a few good quality signings in this week.
15:53It's going to be crucial if we want to be competitive like we want
15:57in the four competitions that we're competing for.
16:00So it's crucial to have a few excellent players in, that's for sure.
16:05Very impressive stuff from Rangers today as they absolutely dismantled Ross County.
16:11Cyril Dessels has started the season really well,
16:14that was his 4th and 5th goals of the season, he's only played 6 games.
16:18Yes, I think it's a great start to the season for him.
16:21I've said before that he's a great lad off the pitch as well,
16:25works ever so hard in training,
16:27and even this type of finishing training, it's just touch finish.
16:30I think that's more of what the fans would like to see,
16:33when he gets in that situation in the box, just take a touch.
16:36Yes, because he's been guilty of taking too many touches at times in the past,
16:39but today he certainly didn't.
16:41Does he score those types of goals regularly in training?
16:43Is his finishing generally good in training?
16:45Yes, I think in training he always works on his finishing.
16:48Always the types of finish round about the edge of the box,
16:51inside the box, touch finish, like I just touched on there.
16:54I'm delighted to see that he's started the season strong.
16:56He has started the season very well,
16:58and that's on the back of a good number of goals last season as well.
17:02Yes, you can't argue with the fact that
17:05Cyril Dessels scored a barrel of goals last season.
17:08I think, obviously, just the perception that you've touched on there,
17:11Ryan, that there's a lot of chances that go a-begging at times,
17:15and if he can get a greater conversion rate,
17:19then I think it would put a lot of the doubters' minds at rest.
17:23But he's certainly started the season particularly well,
17:26and he's going to have to keep doing that because the manager's touching on there
17:29about wanting to get new recruits in as early as possible, ready for next week.
17:34Whether that's going to be able to happen or not, time will tell,
17:37but one thing's for certain,
17:39that Cyril Dessels is going to shoulder a lot of the burden
17:42of trying to find the back of the net, and if he can't do that,
17:45then Rangers are going to be in a wee bit of trouble at the top end of the park.
17:48Another thing that is for certain is that Rabih Matondo's inconsistent,
17:52but today he was absolutely on fire,
17:54and if he could bring this level of performance all the time,
17:57then he'd be first name in a team shoot.
17:59Yes, well, exactly. I think you've hit the nail on the head there.
18:02You can see him circled here, getting up in support of the move,
18:06and you thought he was just going to curl one out the far corner,
18:09and it ends up hitting the crossbar,
18:11but perhaps that just shows the inconsistency that you're talking about.
18:15Again, look, good movement in a good area, not a particularly convincing header,
18:19but he kept doing that all day long.
18:22This is another example of the balls laid back to Tavernier,
18:25and he gets himself into a dangerous area there.
18:27If he's standing still or he's caught on his heels,
18:31that ball just drifts away, the defender deals with it,
18:33and it comes to nothing.
18:35It's making sure that you're constantly getting into those positions
18:38and areas that will hurt the opposition,
18:41and Matondo, he did that a lot this afternoon.
18:44This is a good one here where you can see him highlighted at the back post here.
18:47He's constantly moving. He keeps moving.
18:50He's not just standing still, and then he's that little burst of pace there
18:54to get on the end of the cross from Vaclav Cerny there,
18:58and put him at the back of the net.
19:00You talk about consistency, and it's a real bugbear, I would imagine,
19:04like Sir Ryan that's sitting next to me before,
19:07that when you're playing with somebody that's got that ability,
19:10if they're not doing it regularly, you know what they're capable of.
19:13It's a huge frustration.
19:15Yes, I could imagine that.
19:17There were, of course, to be two other goals in the game.
19:19I felt as though Tom Lawrence had an excellent match today,
19:22and from Danilo's point of view, to be back in amongst the goals,
19:25that was his first goal since last November, I think,
19:28at that LAD competition for places up front.
19:31Yes, definitely. I think you see here, Rabih again, I've touched on,
19:34when he gets a bit of space, he can open his legs,
19:36picks a great pass, and Tom, with a great first touch,
19:39sort of like a dink finish into the far corner of the post.
19:42I think, obviously, Danilo as well, as you touched on there,
19:45delighted for him to be back in the team and back amongst the goals.
19:49It's probably been a long, frustrating time out for him.
19:52It has been. When he first came into the team, Mikey, he looked impressive,
19:56but then he'd been out for such a long period of time,
19:58he's really had to fight to get a sniff back in amongst the team,
20:03but this will do his confidence to a world of good.
20:05Yes, it will, but he has then fallen into the category of the likes
20:09of what you're talking about with Tom Lawrence, somebody that,
20:11when they joined the club, shown clearly that they've got ability,
20:15they've got the potential to be a player that would have some influence
20:20on the team, but through injuries, they've not really been able
20:23to get any rhythm or flow to their game.
20:26The chances will be there over the course of the season
20:29for the likes of Danilo, and the more goals they can get,
20:33then obviously the better it does their confidence,
20:35but I thought Tom Lawrence today was good.
20:37Yes, definitely.
20:38You see for that first goal with Dessars as well, great touch,
20:40spin, turn, slip, the pass through to him as well.
20:44He's somebody that you need to get as many games into as possible
20:47and maintain his fitness levels, and if he can do that,
20:49then you would think that that number 10 role,
20:52where Todd Cantwell has been before as well,
20:54you would start to perhaps just focus a little bit more on Tom Lawrence.
20:58Yes, from a Ross County point of view, Ryan,
21:01incredibly disappointing today.
21:03You could see Don Cowie so frustrated.
21:06How important is it for them to just park that?
21:08Because they're not the only team that will take a heavy defeat
21:11to a Rangers or Celtic this season.
21:13You've got to just get that out of your mind.
21:14They've got a big game at home to Aberdeen next Sunday.
21:16Yes, as you touched on there, I think you just need to get it
21:19out of the system straight away.
21:21You've obviously got to play Rangers at Hampden.
21:23Probably not got that expectation to go and win,
21:26so you obviously come off the back of a heavy defeat,
21:28and as you touched on, massive game next week,
21:30home to Aberdeen.
21:31So I think it's important you just park that,
21:33you go back into training, you work hard all week,
21:35and then look forward to next weekend.
21:37As much as you're enjoying sitting here with Michael on the couch,
21:40you'd much rather be on the pitch.
21:42When should we expect to see you back on the football pitch?
21:45Any idea yourself?
21:46There's nothing concrete at the minute,
21:48just discussions ongoing.
21:50I'm actually in training at Motherwell at the minute
21:52just for some training fitness and keep myself taken over,
21:55so hopefully in the near future I'll have something sorted.
21:58Let's hope so. OK, let's move on.