Journalist Pete O’Rourke has claimed that the win for Rangers in the Old Firm derby is a massive confidence booster heading into the final stages of the season.
Rangers beat Celtic 2-1 in the recent Old Firm derby, thanks to a Starfelt own goal in extra time, which saw the Gers progress into the final of the Scottish Cup. Rangers now have a great chance of winning a trophy this season and they are also in the semi-final of the Europa League.
The disappointing Old Firm derby defeat in the league meant that Celtic extended the gap at the top of the table to six points, and with just five games to go, it seems a mountain to climb for Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side to catch up with their rivals in the Scottish Premiership.
With Rangers now having several big games before the season curtails, Pete O’Rourke highlighted to GiveMeSport how much of a boost the semi-final win will be for Van Bronckhorst’s side.
“I think it’s a huge boost for Rangers, going into the rest of the season, the crucial part of the season, to get that Old Firm win, and those two big wins in extra-time, confidence is going to be high at Ibrox,” O’Rourke said.
TIF Thoughts on Pete O’Rourke’s comments…
Rangers were four points clear at the top of the table when Van Brockhorst took over as manager, but with a couple of Old Firm derby victories for Celtic, it now means that Ange Postecoglou’s side sit firmly at the top of the tree and have one hand on the title.
However, as O’Rourke says, the victory in the semi-final for Rangers would have done Van Bronckhorst and the players a world of good because it would be a season certainly deemed as a failure if they failed to come away with any silverware and their arch-rivals won the treble.
As well as this, Rangers can now take this confidence into their fantastic Europa League campaign, with RB Leipzig standing between them and a European final.