Rangers fans were blown away by the performance of centre-back Nikola Katic in their 1-0 win against Legia Warsaw at Ibrox on Thursday night.
Steven Gerrard’s side booked their spot in the Europa League group stages with the victory after Alfredo Morelos broke the deadlock with a goal in the first minute of stoppage time at the end of the game.
However, it was Katic who caught the eye of some fans on Twitter after the Croatian put in a colossal shift in the defence to help Rangers keep the Legia attack at bay and earn what turned out to be an invaluable clean sheet.
Katic’s display makes you wonder why Gerrard stopped playing the Croatian about a quarter of the way into last season and mainly named loanee Joe Worrall to partner Connor Goldson in defence.
Goldson and Katic have looked solid alongside each other in the opening weeks of this season, especially after winning back-to-back clean sheets against Legia, who are decent opposition in the Europa League.
Katic was one of the best players on the pitch for Rangers on Thursday night, with fans going absolutely wild for his display on social media.
https://twitter.com/AlistairHughes1/status/1167328514573553664
https://twitter.com/CameronSim78/status/1167325132966121472
These fans all reckon that Katic was the man of the match against Legia – and who can argue with them?
The 22-year-old was blocking everything that came his way, seemingly heading every aerial ball and ensuring that the Legia attack were unable to score against a defence that was widely-criticised by fans and pundits last season.
Ryan Jack also staked his claim to be named the man of the match with yet another superb display in the middle of the park but there is no doubting that Katic deserves all the praise he is getting for his shift against the Polish giants.
Had a wee think and I’ve decided Niko Katic is my MOTM ? Closely followed by Ryan Jack ????
— Sam Ross ????????? (@SamRoss1872) August 29, 2019
https://twitter.com/GERS_54/status/1167215050253328386
Utter pish….Katic was deffo motm but Goldson is brilliant….only Rangers fans can look for a mistake where there is none
— StopTheHate (@1PlanetOneRace) August 29, 2019
It is a bold claim to give Katic a 10 out of 10 for his performance because rarely do you see players putting in perfect shifts.
The Daily Record posted match ratings via their Twitter account after the match and only awarded Katic a seven out of 10 for his midweek efforts at Ibrox.
He definitely deserves better than what the Record are giving him. He should have been awarded with at least an eight.
https://twitter.com/Colinnn1/status/1167226030345609223
10/10 from Niko Katic.
— jamie donaghy (@jamiefddonaghy) August 29, 2019