Super Eagles striker Cyriel Dessers made a strong statement in his first start of the season, helping Rangers cruise to a 3-0 win over Viktoria Plzen in their UEFA Champions League qualifying first-leg clash at Ibrox.
After being left out of recent matches, the Nigerian forward was restored to the starting lineup by manager Russell Martin and immediately proved his worth, playing a key role in Rangers’ best performance under the new coach.
Dessers provided the assist for the opening goal, laying the ball off beautifully for winger Djeidi Gassama to fire home. The Nigerian then got on the scoresheet himself, converting a penalty just before half-time after debutant Oliver Antman was fouled inside the box.
Shortly after the restart, Dessers was involved again as Antman delivered a pinpoint cross for Gassama to nod in his second goal of the night — and his fourth in just three European appearances for the club.
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Despite criticism from fans earlier this season, Dessers was central to a much-improved Rangers attack. His movement and link-up play helped gel the front three, with manager Martin seeing a far more fluent performance from his side.
“You need this motivation always,” Dessers said after the game. “It’s easy to have this for European games and Old Firm games, but you need it every time because there are no easy games in the Scottish Premiership, so we need to pick up our levels there as well.”
Rangers now head into the second leg with a commanding 3-0 lead and will face either RB Salzburg or Club Brugge in the next round if they complete the job.
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