Rangers put their perceivable domestic woes to one side last night (Thursday) with an emphatic 4-1 away win over Nice in the UEFA Europa League.
Three first half goals from Vaclav Cerny, Mohamed Diomande and Hamza Igamane set the tone for the evening, before the latter added a fourth not long after the break.
The home side pulled one back in the closing stages, but it was all but a consolation against Rangers' dominance on the night.
Speaking after the match, Dujon Sterling – who started the game, making way for James Tavernier on 62 minutes – praised his teammates and the travelling Rangers support, before taking a cheeky dig at the match official.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Sterling said: "Good European performance from the boys, great atmosphere from fans. [By the way] anyone know why the ref was desperate to give them a pen", followed by a laughing emoji.
Good European performance from the boys , great atmosphere from fans 🔥 btw anyone know why the ref was desperate to give them a pen😂 pic.twitter.com/uoeUauwGKL
— Dujon Sterling (@DujonSterling1) November 29, 2024
In the opening line of his Instant Analysis last night, the Rangers Review's Chris Jack described the victory as a "big step towards Europa League qualification" for Rangers, and "one of the historic European wins in the club's recent history".
You can read Chris' Instant Analysis in full here, where he also said this of Sterling's contributions:
"The changing of the guard continues at right-back. Clement’s decision not to start James Tavernier against Dundee United at the weekend raised eyebrows. He made the same call here. Sterling got the nod and backed it up once again, and now looks like the pick in that position. Clement must be wondering if he should have made the switch earlier.
"The Tavernier situation has been spoken about so often over the course of the campaign. In what is left of it, the captain will continue to be central to many conversations. He will still have a considerable part to play for Clement’s side. But this last week feels like a significant one in Tavernier’s term. No player should be selected on reputation alone and Clement is picking Sterling on form.
"A solid, quite but effective first half performance in a defensive sense was added to by a rare assist. His ball over the top of the Nice defence wasn’t dealt with and Diomande did the rest.
"Come the hour mark, Sterling’s job and his night were done as Tavernier entered the action. He assumed the armband from Butland. Taking back his starting jersey will not be as easy now."
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