Venue: Ibrox Date: 12/12/24 Time: 20:00 GMT
A terrific Rangers side can feel unfortunate to not defeat Spurs at Ibrox after a 1-1 draw in the Battle of Britain.
The two goalscorers of the match were Hamza Igamane and Dejan Kulusevski. Igamane’s effort an excellent volley from a Tavernier cross, with Kulusevski’s finish a low strike into the bottom corner of the net. The draw puts Rangers up to eighth, with Spurs level on points in ninth.
Ex-Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou returned to Ibrox after leaving Glasgow a year and a half ago. Now under fire from his own supporters following a run of inconsistent performances. The visitors sit 11th in the Premier League table after their 4-3 defeat to Chelsea. In Europe, they have done relatively well, taking 10 points from their five European games, and sat outside the automatic playoff places.
Rangers sat just above them in Europe although are eleven points behind their city rivals Celtic domestically. Their boss Philippe Clement had not only eased fan discontent with a hat-trick of wins and clean sheets in the league, but also shown a certain European clout in their last continental outing, a fantastic away win to Nice where Igamane scored two in a 4-1 rout.
Spurs came into the tie battling injury crisis in defense, with Archie Gray coming into the center with their two first-choice central defenders injured. Rodrigo Bentancur comes fresh in to the midfield as he is serving a seven-game domestic ban for alleged offensive comments about his teammate, Heung-Min Son.
For the Glasgow side, they began up top with Igamane, on a high after scoring in two consecutive games. On the left, Rangers opted to play two defenders, Jefte and Ridvan Yilmaz. The latter replaced Danilo in the side as Robin Propper came in to the center of defence for Leon Balogun.
First half:
Both sides made a lively start to the proceedings. Heung-Min Son battled past Propper, with Udogie getting onto the loose ball, before delivering a pass out to the left for Werner. Seeing his shot off target, he tried a curling effort but lacked conviction.
Rangers then made a swift counter-attack. Tavernier tackled a dawdling Werner, who fired it into Vaclav Cerny’s path in the midfield. Cerny ran to the edge of the box before laying off the ball to an overlapping Bajrami. He shot but Fraser Forster made a fantastic tip over the bar. It would have been going in if not for the ex-Hoops goalie.
The Rangers fans certainly made their thoughts clear towards the keeper, booing him at every opportunity.
The next two chances fell to Spurs: a tame toe-poke into Butland’s hands from Son and a deflected shot over the bar from Maddison, who was played in on the center of goal after Raskin was caught in possession by Yves Bissouma.
As the home support continued to roar their team on, Jefte complied, showing some tricky feet to get past Pedro Porro, who should have stood his ground better. It was a good block from Radu Dragusin to see it off-target.
No doubt the Brazilian certainly got his steps in. He was in his own box, intercepting the ball to stop Brennan Johnson from getting a shot on goal following a promising Lilywhites attack.
Following the excellent piece of defending, Jefte played the cross of the night. Whipping a pacy ball across the face of goal, just begging for one of his teammates to tap it home.
Next, it was Spurs on the attack, Jack Butland making a terrific point-blank save from Son’s first-time shot. It was offside but Butland knew nothing about it. Terrific goalkeeping.
Just before half-time, Rangers continued to pile on the pressure, with a Cerny near-post shot saved by the ‘Holy Goalie’s’ feet, and cleared by Porro. Diomande quickly after had a deflected shot.
Clement would have been the much happier of the two managers going into half-time, except for seeing defender John Souttar come off with an injury ten minutes from time.
Second half:
What a start! A minute after kick-off, Tavernier lofted a fantastic cross into the box, which saw Igamane fire a first-time side-footed volley down to Forster’s left-hand side—brilliant technique on display.
The home side continued to put pressure on the wounded visitors. Moments after a Cerny long shot, the winger was unleashed on a brilliant run, weaving into the Spurs box only to be halted by Dragusin.
Spurs finally responded with their first attack of the half. The substitute, Kulusevski, after coming on for a dismal Werner in the first half, delivered a ball from the right to Brennan Johnson who watched his effort curl wide.
The light blues react well through a confident Igamane. He saw a shot blocked and almost got a second from a Bajrami mishit which, fortunately, Forster grabbed hold of before the danger.
Another longshot, this time from Diomande was deflected off Dragusin. No doubt meeting his quota for blocks tonight.
Spurs were holding on and were afforded that patience by a colossal error by Jefte. After having an excellent first half, the left-back headed the ball back to Butland, who came out to collect. The keeper reacted sharply to stop it rolling past him into an open net.
Ange had seen enough and decided to make a trio of substitutions and it was one of these substitutes, Lucas Bergvall, who almost scored with his first touch, a bouncing volley just wide from the second phase of a corner.
Maddison would have been licking his lips after getting a free-kick in a dangerous area outside the box but it was another opportunity wasted as he played a one-two with Kulusevski for a better angle with the ball travelling well over the bar.
Spurs continued to push on, a cross from the left saw the right-back Porro play a first-time shot to the near post. Butland did well to parry it away with his feet.
That pressure was rewarded with fifteen minutes to go with the visitors finanlly showing their elite credentials.
Kulusevski, who scored at the weekend in the loss to Chelsea, started and finished the move. Playing Dominic Solanke through into the area; the striker cut the ball back to Maddison, who might have been fouled. The referee let play continue, with the ball running onto Kulusevski, who fired back across Butland with a low effort—an excellent move.
The trade of blows continued. A well timed ball coming into Cyriel Dessers’ path who controlled the ball brilliantly to get past his marker, managing a clean strike on the ball which looked destined for the net. HOW DID HE NOT SCORE? Well, the big man, Fraser Forster with another excellent save
Dessers had the ball in the back of the net moments later but it hardly required a VAR review, the Nigerian international clearly offside.
Bergvall, who was booked harshly earlier, could have been off for a foul outside the box after Spurs lost the ball in their defensive half. The referee thought about it but must have felt the same, feeling both yellow cards would not have warranted a sending-off for the young Swede.
The London side then pushed forward down the left, with Son playing a ball into Udogie outside the six-yard box. He laid it off for Maddison, who swivelled nicely and dinked a cross into Solanke who could only head it straight into Butland’s welcoming gloves.
Both sides continued to attack in an open game but ultimately had to settle for the draw. Rangers can take positives from this performance going into their cup final against Celtic on Sunday. In contrast, Spurs know they must do better when they continue Premier League proceedings over the weekend.
Reaction:
Dejan Kuluveski to TNT Sports:
“Rangers played very well, we struggled a bit. We didn’t play well enough to win the game. Rangers played a perfect game, it’s a beautiful stadium, the fans helped them a lot.”
Philippe Clement to TNT Sports:
“They took the challenge with both hands.
“We should have won this game. We deserved to win this game. I think it was a good advertisement for Scottish football.”
Line-ups:
Tottenham: Forster; Porro, Dragusin, Gray, Udogie; Bissouma (Sarr, 61′), Bentancur (Bergvall, 61′), Maddison; Johnson (Solanke, 61′), Son, Werner (Kulusevski, 46′).
Subs: Austin, Whiteman, Dorrington, Hardy, Williams-Barnett, Olusesi, Lankshear.
Rangers: Butland; Tavernier, Souttar (Balogun, 35′), Propper, Jefte; Bajrami (Barron, 68′) Raskin, Diomande; Cerny (Sterling, 69′), Igamane (Dessers, 80′), Yilmaz (Fraser, 80′).
Subs: Kelly, Cortes, Dowell, King, McCausland, Rice, Curtis.
Referee: Sandro Schärer