Mark Hateley lauded Ryan Kent on BBC Sportsound (25/11, 20:07) for his dazzling runs as Rangers beat Sparta Prague in the Europa League, having not done so for ‘a long time’.
The Gers handed Giovanni van Bronckhorst a win on the Dutchman’s debut in the Ibrox hot seat on Thursday night. Alfredo Morelos put the Glasgow outfit ahead on 15-minutes, after Ianis Hagi stretched to cut back James Tavernier’s forward pass.
Morelos capitalised on further woeful defending three-minutes into the second-half to give Rangers a two-goal lead. Heading in from Filip Panak’s attempted clearance turned cross.
Sparta goalkeeper Dominik Holec denied Morelos a hat-trick, on the night he became the fifth-highest scorer in Europa League history.
Holec also kept Kent from scoring, as Van Bronckhorst lined him up on Rangers’ left-hand flank against Sparta Prague. A role from which the 25-year-old stretched play against Rudi.
Kent enjoyed a strong start in the Europa League tie with a dazzling run after five-minutes. He did brilliantly to trick his way past the Czech side and find Joe Aribo, who struck the bar.
The £18k-a-week dynamo thrilled ex-Rangers striker Hateley by running at Sparta. As the former England international feels Kent has been lacking that part of his game for too long.
“We’ve not seen that from Ryan Kent in a long time,” Hateley said. “It’s what Kent’s been missing.”
Can Van Bronckhorst revive Kent’s Rangers form after Sparta Prague win?
Van Bronckhorst will hope he can revive Kent’s form to see the Rangers winger produce dazzling runs like he did against Sparta Prague in the Europa League on a consistent basis.
The former England U20 international mostly offered tepid efforts during Steven Gerrard’s final months in Glasgow. He only scored once and provided five assists in 11 appearances.
He failed to influence the scoring as Hibernian dumped the Gers out of the League Cup last Sunday, either. But while Kent failed to register a goal or an assist on Thursday, the Rangers dynamo impressed with his quick and direct runs to have Sparta Prague spinning at times.