Glasgow Rangers enjoyed a second half turnaround to win 3-2 at Ibrox last night in Michael Beale’s first match in charge of the club as their Premiership campaign resumed.
The first half wasn’t pretty, and it was almost reminiscent of the Giovanni van Bronckhorst era, although the incumbent manager must have had some strong words for his team as they roared back in the second half to secure a confidence boosting victory.
A tactical tweak saw Beale play with a more attacking setup, having Alfredo Morelos and Fashion Sakala leading the line in a fluid 4-3-1-2 as opposed to the rigid 4-3-3 often used under the Dutchman, and in the second half it appeared to work wonders.
Ryan Porteous and Kevin Nisbet had scored for Hibernian either side of a Sakala equaliser, but with just over half an hour remaining, Ryan Jack scored Rangers’ second equaliser. Just four minutes later, Morelos had a simple tap-in after some wonderful work by Malik Tillman to score what proved to be the winner.
The Colombian was back to his best, recording four shots during the match and thriving in the new formation, but it was Tillman who looks like he could really get going under Beale after his performance.
The American – who was dubbed “phenomenal” by John Lundstram – was excellent against Hibs as he received a 7.7/10 rating from Sofascore, which ranked him as the best performer on the pitch.
The 20-year-old provided two assists, took 58 touches and made an impressive four key passes, which proved pivotal to opening up the Hibs defence.
He also succeeded with 75% of his dribble attempts, had two shots off target and also created a further two big chances, proving to be a constant attacking threat throughout the match.
The Ibrox faithful would have known that the youngster had talent in abundance, but translating it to consistent performances on the pitch was becoming rather difficult. However, Beale’s tactical nous caters for players like Tillman who thrive on a more fluid system, and this was clearly evident last night based on his metrics from the match.
There are still plenty of things to work upon going forward, but the 42-year-old will just be happy to secure a first win in front of the Ibrox crowd; and if the second half performance is a sign of things to come, the future certainly looks bright for Tillman and Rangers.
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