da bet nacional： Glasgow Rangers opened up a nine-point lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership table on Sunday afternoon after beating Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.
da pixbet： Steven Gerrard’s side cruised to a comfortable 1-0 victory over Killie in a result which could have read very differently indeed if certain things had gone their way. Joe Aribo came close to scoring twice, whilst Connor Goldson headed a corner from James Tavernier wide, Ryan Kent tested Danny Rogers and the Killie keeper saved a close-range effort from Cedric Itten.
But the club captain’s penalty proved to be the difference as Rangers recorded their ninth straight win in a row in quick succession in all competitions.
Several players caught the eye with impressive performances but one player stood head and shoulders above the rest of the crowd – Connor Goldson. The centre-back was awarded the ‘Man of the Match’ accolade by the BBC for his defensive display.
Per SofaScore, Goldson received a high rating of 7.8 for his efforts – he won ten out of his 13 duels overall (76%), took 92 touches of the ball, and completed 56 out of 78 passes at a pass accuracy rating of 72%, whilst he made one tackle, six clearances and blocked one shot, which shows that he was a ballast at the back. In fact, if you look at his heatmap, you can see a hotspot of activity in his own half, which suggests that he was the most vital cog in the win over Kilmarnock as he marshalled the defence.
Sky Sports gave the 27-year-old a grade of 8/10, whilst GlasgowLive gave him the same score, insisting that “he’s becoming such a threat from set-pieces” as “his towering header led to Rangers’ penalty”, before adding “he rarely put a foot wrong defensively.”
Once hailed as a “fantastic” player by Gerrard, Goldson has returned the favour with a string of strong performances since the start of the season.
The defender has started every single game for the Gers in the Scottish Premiership this season so far, whilst he is averaging 1.1 tackles and 3.2 clearances per game, via WhoScored. He also bagged a brace in the first Old Firm derby of the season, which just goes to show that he is a useful attacking threat as well.
Whether it’s a domestic or European competition, the Englishman is one of the first names on the teamsheet. It’ll be interesting to see if and when he will be able to finally catch a break with fixtures coming thick and fast over the next couple of weeks.
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