Event: Hampden Park, Glasgow Date: Sunday, January 15 Kick off: 17:00 GMTCoverage: Listen to live commentary on BBC Radio Scotland; Live text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app
Somewhere in the Portuguese hills last April, the sun went down on the horizon and it was a dreary night for Fashion Sakala.
He had spent just over an hour in the dramatic Estadio Municipal de Braga carved into the side of a mountain, but there was little drama about the impact of the Rangers striker or his teammates.
Picked to lead the line in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final, Sakala was substituted in a 1-0 defeat in which the Scottish champions failed to register a shot on goal.
While Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side rallied in the second leg to reach the final, the Ibrox striker would only start four other games that campaign, scoring just two goals. In the pecking order of the strikers, the Zambia international seemed to drop.
Fast forward nine months, and the former Oostende man is enjoying a renaissance under new manager Michael Beale, but can he lead Rangers to the Viaplay Cup final on Sunday?
Sakala feeling Beale’s rebound
Last Sunday at Tayside Rangers strove to create in a similar way to how they did on that Portuguese night. Goalless at half-time against a Dundee United fighting for their lives, a moment of magic was needed to revive Rangers and keep their dim hopes of a title challenge alive. Sakala went up.
A dizzying run off the ball, muffled control of the ball with his right foot and a lethal volley with his left flew into the United net. Three minutes later, Malik Tillman added a second to seal the deal.
“That’s great from Sakala,” said former Rangers goalie Cammy Bell. “You see him starting the move, he plays a one-two and then runs behind.
“But it’s about the ability that he has here and the finish. His touch with the right and the finish with the left at the pace he’s running is phenomenal. That’s a tough skill running at that pace.”
“They’ve all come in in the last few weeks since Beale came on. He’s been in great shape. He’s a very influential player for the Rangers right now. It seems like Beale can rely on him in a number of games and he hasn’t had that.” this season.”
The opening goal may have been Sakala’s fourth goal of the season, but three of them have come under Beale. He also has an assists hat-trick, including winning a penalty in the Old Firm derby that has already become a Twitter GIF legend due to his award celebration. That’s just skimming the surface of his best form under English.
This term, the 25-year-old has played just as many games with Beale and Van Bronckhorst. His total shots are up from 16 to 23, his box touches are up from 39 to 44. As a result, his xG has shot up from 1.10 to 2.62.
Strangely, he is actually creating fewer chances, but the confidence now in his game has helped sharpen the man who joined Rangers for free in the summer of 2021.
How is compared?
Sakala is not the only one who has seen a rise in performance level under the former Queens Park Rangers manager. Ryan Kent, a lost soul under Van Bronckhorst, has awakened to show signs of the player he once was.
But in terms of league-wide attackers, Sakala’s stats stack up well even though he still doesn’t get much playing time this season.
In the league, he averages a goal every 95 minutes, only Kyogo Furuhashi, Liel Abada, Lawrence Shankland and Jota have a better rate, and only Giorgos Giakoumakis at Celtic averages more shots per 90 minutes at 5.8 to Sakala’s 5.3.
And to add to that, the Rangers player has averaged 11.3 opponent box touches per game, the highest in the top flight. Impressive figures for someone who at the start of the campaign would have been a third-choice striker behind Alfredo Morelos and Antonio Colak.
Fashion Sakala has scored three of his four goals this season with Michael Beale
“He’s the nicest man in football, Fashion,” Beale said. “The big smile, he’s happy with life. I think you have to meet fashion with the same energy, he’s a bubbly character.
“He always tries on his socks, he always gives you everything and if you can help him with a tip or two, so I thought if you go back a couple of weeks ago at the Old Firm, the first half tried hard, he’s pressing, he’s tackling but not so much in possession.
“In the second half, he was a completely different player and he also had a similar performance at Dundee United. It was a fantastic goal and he’s in good shape at the moment because I think we’re doing everything we can to keep him there.”
“Really, when we recruited him a couple of years ago, we recruited a really fantastic young man and I think he is now realizing the potential that he showed in Belgium before coming here.”
Source: news.google.com