Glasgow Rangers dropped two points at Easter Road on Sunday after they failed to hold onto the lead against Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership.
The Light Blues had a 2-0 and a 3-2 lead at various points in the afternoon but were unable to hold on to secure all three points despite Hamza Igamane’s hat-trick, as the home side battled back hard to earn themselves a point.
Philippe Clement will be disappointed that his team, who have now won one of their last four league games, could not maintain their composure defensively to prevent Hibernian from having the chance to score three times.
One of the players who failed to step up when they were needed most was goalkeeper Liam Kelly, who is standing in for the unwell Jack Butland.
Liam Kelly's performance against Hibernian
The Scotland international, who kept a clean sheet against Celtic at Ibrox on Thursday, conceded three goals from six shots on target against him on Sunday.
Martin Boyle’s first goal for Hibernian was one that the shot-stopper could do little about, however, as the winger fired a shot into the bottom corner with pace and power.
Whilst it would be tough to blame Kelly for not saving Boyle’s penalty, his part in the late equaliser from Rocky Bushiri should come under question.
The Rangers goalkeeper came off his line in an attempt to clear the cross from a corner and got absolutely nowhere near the ball, allowing Bushiri to head into a virtually empty net.
Kelly’s error contributed to the third Motherwell goal and led to the team dropping two points, but one player who was even worse than the stand-in goalkeeper was right-back Ridvan Yilmaz.
Ridvan Yilmaz's performance against Hibernian
The Turkey international was deployed at right-back once again to fill in for James Tavernier, who is injured, and it is a difficult task for him to play on his weaker side.
However, Yilmaz showed that he does have what it takes to put in a strong performance in that position because he impressed in the win over Celtic on Thursday in that role.
The left-footed defender’s use of the ball against Hibernian was less than ideal, as he lost possession 16 times in total. He stalled on the ball and waited too long to make the right decision on numerous occasions, much to the frustration of Vaclav Cerny at times.
Minutes
90
90
Duels won
5/7
2/8
Tackles + interceptions
3
1
Possession lost
9x
16x
Dribbles completed
1/2
2/4
As you can see in the table above, Yilmaz’s performance level dipped significantly for the trip to face Hibs after an excellent showing against Celtic, in both his defensive and offensive contributions.
The Turkish lightweight lost the majority of his physical duels in the draw on Sunday, which helped the home team to pile pressure on Rangers in the second half, and he gave the ball away far too often.
Put it simply, Yilmaz let Clement down badly by allowing his performance level to drop as much as it did from his display against Celtic.
Available for £0: Rangers face Boyd repeat over signing "unplayable" star
Rangers have recently been linked with a former crowd favourite.
ByRoss KilvingtonJan 4, 2025
With the injury issues, the defender could be needed as a starter at right-back in the weeks to come and the manager will need more consistency from him.