Super Eagles striker, Cyriel Kolawole Dessers, boosted Rangers’ Scottish Premiership title hopes with a late winner against St. Mirren at the SMISA Stadium, Soccernet.ng reports.
The 29-year-old has come under scrutiny for his wastefulness in front of goal, but he put the noise behind him as he buried his 20th goal of the season to secure three points for The Gers.
Rangers broke the deadlock in the 32nd minute after Zach Hemming failed to deal with a cross before James Bolton inadvertently put the ball into his own goal, all thanks to the pressure from Dessers.
The home side levelled the scores just five minutes later. A brilliant cross from Mark O’Hara set up Mikael Mandron, who nodded goalwards, with the ball flying just past the fingertips of Jack Butland before going in off ... to send the teams into the break level.
Dessers stepped up with 18 minutes left on the clock, getting on the end of a brilliant cross from James Tavernier whilst also benefitting from poor communication amongst the St. Mirren defenders, heading the ball into a gaping goal.
The hosts huffed and puffed for an equaliser but could not find one as the backline partnership of Leon Balogun and John Souttar stood strong, lifting the team’s hopes and daring them to dream of another title.
FULL-TIME: St Mirren 1-2 Rangers
Three Points in Paisley 👊 pic.twitter.com/2fHituvkwa
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) April 28, 2024
Speaking on his landmark 20th goal, the former PSV man was thrilled to have ticked off some personal milestones but maintained he wanted more from himself.
“It’s clear that it’s a big goal, it’s an important goal. I think it’s one that we deserved seeing the shift we put in, but we knew it was going to be hard before we got here. If you told me I’d have scored twenty goals at the start of the season, I’d have taken it, but now I have a couple more assists, so for sure it feels good, but I want more than this,” Dessers told Sky Sports Scotland.
Dessers has now scored 20 goals and provided 8 assists in 49 games for the Glasgow-based club this season.