Rangers came to life midway through the second half at Celtic Park, sparked by the decision from Giovanni van Bronckhorst to remove Joe Aribo as the focal point and unleash Fashion Sakala through the centre.
The Zambian had struggled to influence proceedings from his position on the right-hand side, squandering a 3v2 opportunity in the first half which typified his head-down approach to the role.
Sakala’s heat map underlines his very specific role wide on the right. With James Tavernier understandably playing a more reserved game, there was less of an emphasis on Sakala moving infield as we have started to witness under van Bronckhorst in recent weeks.
Without a license to roam, Sakala was easy to stifle when he attacked the Celtic backline.
As Carl Starfelt turned the ball over to create a 3v2 situation for Rangers, Sakala’s inability to dribble with control hindered his decision making.
As the Zambian attacks the Celtic defence, Starfelt shows him down the line.
Given his refusal to lift his head, Sakala makes it clear he is eager to get a shot off at goal.
However, he takes a loose touch when trying to exploit the space down the outside of Starfelt.
In doing so, he stalls his momentum, allowing the Swedish defender to easily control the situation and force a goal kick for Celtic.
In fact, of the five dribbles which the Zambian attempted at Celtic Park, only one proved successful.
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By moving Sakala into a central role, however, it encouraged the Zambian to make blindside runs.
Coupled with his pace, Celtic found it difficult to control his direct movement.
As the ball is moved inside to John Lundstram in space, Sakala has taken up a position on the blindside of Cameron Carter-Vickers.
The midfielder feeds the ball down the inside of the Celtic defender, where he begins to make contact with Sakala to halt his momentum.
However, he struggles to find his bearings, allowing the Zambian to brush him off…
…And fire towards goal.
Sakala’s one-on-one opportunity late in the game also stemmed from his ability to peel off Celtic defenders.
As the ball lands with Scott Arfield, Carl Starfelt leaves his defensive line to pressure the ball.
With Sakala on his blind side, Arfield knocks the ball into the space on the inside…
…Which allows the forward to take the ball in his stride and race towards goal.
By moving centrally to operate as a conventional No.9, it allowed Sakala to pin the Celtic defensive line back to make space between the lines. In doing so, he helped create – and finish – Rangers’ equaliser in the second half.
Again, Sakala is positioned on the shoulder of Carter-Vickers as the away side advance the ball through midfield.
As Scott Wright receives, Carter-Vickers drops off to guard against the Zambian’s pace.
Arfield then exchanges passes with Wright and, were it not for a bobbly return pass from the former, Sakala would have been played in behind first time.
Eventually, Rangers are able to get the attack under control, before Sakala is, again, able to peel into space.
The power on his finish takes Joe Hart by surprise at his near post.
The freedom which Sakala was afforded in the second half after van Bronckhorst removed Joe Aribo created chaos in the Celtic ranks, with the Zambian constantly moving into different pockets of space.
In the end, it was a game which encapsulated Sakala as a forward, passing up opportunities where he ought to have scored while finishing the chance he would have been forgiven for spurning.
More specifically, however, it also underlined that Sakala is a player who thrives on chaos and that, by shoehorning him into a tightly-defined role, van Bronckhorst is guilty of limiting his best qualities.
The switch to move him centrally in the second half at Celtic Park ought to have yielded further benefits outside of his equaliser, and the hope is that the Rangers boss has finally come to a realisation about how to maximise of the Zambian's unpredictability.
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