Russell Martin sends statement as new signing flops - Rangers' winners and losers vs Celtic
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Charlie Grace
Sun 31 August 2025 14:30, UK
Rangers played out their best performance of the season, drawing 0-0 at home to Celtic in the first Old Firm derby of the season.
Rangers had the best of the first half with Russell Martin looking to take a more pragmatic approach than usual.
The second half was a more disjointed affair with neither team being able to grab a foothold in the game and sustain any pressure.
Eventually the spoils were shared between the two sides in an underwhelming derby that showed the frailties of both sides early on in the season.
Russell Martin
Credit: Imago
Martin undoubtedly oversaw Rangers’ best performance of his short tenure so far at Ibrox, giving as good as they got throughout the game.
They competed well in their duels with Celtic and controlled the midfield battle in large parts of the game thanks to Connor Barron and Mohamed Diomande.
It was Rangers’ most resolute performance of the campaign, with Martin’s backline looking unusually secure and unflustered in their biggest game of the season.
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Martin now has building blocks to platform the rest of his tenure at Rangers, and the Ibrox faithful will hope they can build on this performance after the international break.
Mohamed Diomande
Diomande was everywhere in the midfield for Martin’s side this afternoon regularly popping up with crucial contributions at both ends.
Mohamed Diomande vs CelticAccurate passes24/30Defensive contributions 4Tackles won3/3Recoveries7Mohamed Diomande was a defensive stalwart for Rangers (Fotmob)
The Ivorian was staunch in defensively, controlling Celtic’s transitions with Barron, and enabling Rangers to stay organised as Celtic broke away.
Martin will have liked how Diomande used his athleticism to control the midfield and move the ball quickly to set Rangers away on the attack.
John Souttar
(Credit Imago)
John Souttar, like Diomande was a rock defensively for Rangers, bouncing back after their 6-0 loss in midweek to Club Brugge.
While Nasser Djiga looked unsettled at times, Souttar stayed composed and defended confidently, keeping Celtic at bay.
It was the 28-year-old’s brave header that was thought to have given Rangers the lead, but it was ajudged to have been offside by a VAR review.
Thelo Aasgaard
For all their stellar defensive work Rangers failed to register a shot on target in the 90 minutes, and Thelo Aasgaard was largely ineffective in the number 10 role.
The former Luton man was poor for the hosts, regularly failing to link defence to attack and the 23-year-old was part of a front four that paled in comparison to their defensive teammates.
Aasgaard’s number was called in the 76th minute ending a poor performance that won’t live long in Old Firm memories.
Connor Barron
[Credit Imago]
Barron was stellar during his time on the pitch, alongside Diomande in the defensive midfield positions but an injury forced the 23-year-old off the pitch.
Barron was impressive on his first league start of the season and it was a bitter way to end such a stellar showing.
Hopefully his hamstring won’t be too serious and the ex-Aberdeen man will be able to recover across the international break.
Bojan Miovski
It was a tough day for Bojan Miovski, who entered the lion’s den on his Rangers debut, following his move from Aberdeen.