Rangers maestro who won 88% duels was better than Cantwell vs Kilmarnock

Glasgow Rangers immediately bounced back to winning ways after their Old Firm woes as they ran out 3-1 winners against Kilmarnock on Tuesday in the Scottish Premiership.

The Light Blues secured a comfortable victory to wash away the pain of being beaten 2-1 by their rivals Celtic on Saturday, thanks to goals from Ross McCausland, Abdallah Sima, and Todd Cantwell.

Philippe Clement should be pleased with the dominant nature of his side’s performance as they ended the match with 61% possession and 18 shots on goal to go along with the convincing scoreline.

Cantwell caught the eye with his display in the middle of the park but it was one of his fellow midfielders – John Lundstram – who was the true hero for the head coach.

Todd Cantwell’s performance against Kilmarnock in numbers

The former Norwich City attacking midfielder was busy in midfield with 68 touches of the ball over the course of his 89 minutes on the pitch.

In that time, the English whiz completed all four of his attempted dribbles and 80% (37/46) of his attempted passes. However, that did not lead to him being able to create a single chance for his teammates.

This suggests that the talented ace was not a particularly creative presence for Rangers in terms of his passing to open up space for his fellow attackers to test the opposition goalkeeper.

He did, however, find the back of the net to make it 3-1 with a smart finish from close range from Ridvan Yilmaz’s assist, but also missed a ‘big chance’ to secure his second as he was denied by a save from Will Dennis.

John Lundstram’s performance against Kilmarnock in numbers

Meanwhile, Lundstram sat in at the base of the Rangers midfield and was Clement’s true hero with a terrific all-round display throughout the game.

He kept things ticking with his metronomic play in possession and was a machine in the middle of the park with his defensive quality and strength in physical duels.

The former Sheffield United enforcer rarely gave the ball away as he completed 90% (65/72) of his attempted passes from 80 touches of the ball and made five of his six long pass attempts.

This helped the Light Blues to control the match as the 29-year-old gem, who also created one chance, kept the play moving and was not wasteful with his use of possession, which then provided a platform for the likes of Sima, Cantwell, and McCausland to thrive.

Lundstram also won 88% (7/8) of his duels throughout the game, which included five of his six ground battles and both of his aerial contests, as the impressive maestro dominated the opposition midfield to stop them from getting back into the match.

He made three tackles and one clearance in total to break up Kilmarnock attacks before they were able to break forward and trouble Jack Butland’s goal.

These statistics show that the English dynamo was terrific in all of his work in and out of possession from the first minute to the last, whereas Cantwell was wasteful outside of his goal and not at his creative best, which is why he was Clement’s true hero on the day.