Glasgow Rangers beat Kilmarnock in a 1-0 win away at Rugby Park to move nine points clear of their arch-rivals Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership table.
Steven Gerrard’s side are on an 18-game unbeaten run and have dropped just four points from their first 13 fixtures in the Scottish top flight.
Rangers ace Joe Aribo came close to scoring with a fine effort from inside the box before James Tavernier scored his 10th goal of the season from the penalty spot after Kilmarnock right-back Ross Millen was adjudged to have handled the ball.
The club captain has started every single game of the Scottish Premiership this season so far with Gerrard keeping faith in his countryman and the in-form defender returned the favour with another fine performance.
SofaScore awarded Tavernier with a high rating of 7.9 for his efforts – he made one interception, three tackles and four clearances, whilst he also won six out of twelve ground duels (50%), produced two key passes and took 91 touches of the ball, which suggests that he was a potent attacking threat as well.
Sky Sports gave him a grade of 7/10, whilst GlasgowLive gave him the same score, claiming that he “continues to rack up the goals, and netted his tenth of the season from the spot” although they added that he “wasn’t able to get forward as much as he’d like in the second half, with Killie pushing forward, but another good showing.”
Once hailed as an “outrageous” colossus by Gerrard, it’s fair to say that Tavernier has established himself as one of the best right-backs in Scotland. The £4.5m-rated Rangers ace has been in exceptional form this season, as he has made 13 appearances in the Scottish Premiership, scoring six goals and supplying five assists so far, via Transfermarkt.
By comparison, even star striker Alfredo Morelos has only managed to score three goals and supply three assists in the first division, as per Transfermarkt.
The 29-year-old is Gerrard’s undisputed first-choice right-back and has become an integral part of the side in recent years. We suspect he will still have a part to play if the Gers are to regain the title, that’s for sure.
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