Nigeria Super Eagles striker, Cyriel Dessers, has received praise from Rangers manager Russell Martin following his outstanding performance in helping the Gers claim a 3-0 win over Viktoria Plzen at Ibrox on Tuesday night, www.aclsports.com reports.
The 30-year-old, who was unarguably the man of the match in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League third qualifying round tie against the Czech side, scored once and provided an assist in what marked his first start of the campaign.
Cyriel Dessers played a pivotal role in Rangers’ strong start, first providing the assist for Djeidi Gassama’s early opener, then calmly converting a penalty just before the break to make it 2-0. The penalty came after debutant Oliver Antman was brought down in the box.
After the game, Martin highlighted Dessers’ impressive showing in the encounter, heaping praise on him in the end.
“We scored some real quality goals tonight. Cyriel (Dessers) did a brilliant job attracting players so others could run in-behind, and he took the ball in well,” Martin told the club’s official website.
“We haven’t been able to play Dessers from the start yet because he played one game against Middlesbrough and got a bit of an injury, so we’ve been managing him back to get him on the pitch. He did great tonight.”
Dessers’ impressive showing serves as a timely morale boost, especially after a proposed move to Greek side AEK Athens fell through, leaving the striker to continue his stay at Ibrox this summer.
Rangers will be favourites to progress going into Wednesday’s reverse fixture in the Czech Republic, with Dessers expected to feature again as the Gers look to reach the next stage of qualifying.
