Glasgow Rangers picked up their second Premiership victory of the season this afternoon as Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side secured a 2-0 victory at Ibrox.
After losing by the same scoreline in midweek in the Champions League qualifiers, the Light Blues managed to put that defeat behind them with today’s win.
With Kilmarnock keeping Rangers scoreless at half-time, it took the home side six minutes into the second half to break the deadlock thanks to a goal from Antonio Colak.
After 64 minutes, Van Bronckhorst brought on Alfredo Morelos, who then managed to double Rangers’ lead in the latter stages of the match to confirm the victory for last season’s Europa League finalists.
Despite the two strikers getting their names on the scoresheet, one man who arguably outshone both of them is Malik Tillman.
Having started in Rangers’ midweek defeat to Union Saint-Gilloise, the on-loan midfielder was given his first Premiership start this afternoon and made the most of it after coming off the bench in last weekend’s win against Livingston.
In 75 minutes of action today, the USA international had 42 touches of the ball, made three key passes and completed all four dribbles he attempted. This shows just how dangerous he was on the ball in terms of being an attacking threat for the Gers.
From a defensive point of view, the 20-year-old did his bit for the team by making two tackles and one interception and winning seven of his 11 ground duels.
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This display ultimately earned him an impressive overall match rating of 7.5/10, making him the joint-second highest rated player on the day alongside James Sands, Connor Goldson and Tom Lawrence according to SofaScore, with only James Tavernier ranking higher.
Tillman’s performance also caught the attention of The Athletic’s Rangers correspondent Jordan Campbell, who described what he saw from the player as “outstanding”.
Taking all this into account, it’s safe to say that the Bayern Munich loanee passed Van Bronckhorst’s test to see if he would be able to perform at a high level from the start in the Premiership rather than off the bench.
Considering what Tillman delivered on the pitch today, the youngster certainly did enough to potentially warrant a place in the starting XI for Rangers’ crucial Champions League qualifying clash against Union SG on Tuesday.
