Following his impressive shift in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday when he played only 24 minutes against Liverpool, Fashion Sakala was handed his first start of the season in the Scottish premiership and did not disappoint.
The Zambian who played the entire match for the first time this season completed more dribbles (7) and won 9 duels more than any other player in the match that saw Rangers FC run riot to thump St. Mirren 4-0 at Ibrox.
It was Sakala’s third appearance in the Scottish league out of a possible nine, having struggled for game time as he was relegated to the bench in by coach Giovanni Bronckhorst since the start of the season.
Rangers opened the score lines with only four minutes played through Antonio Colak, before James Tavernier doubled the scores from a spot kick after they won a penalty in the 30th minute.
It was not enough for the Gers as Sakala set up Colak to complete his brace in the 73rd minute before the Zambian slotted home his first goal of the season with his weaker left foot in additional time to end the match 4-0 in favour of the home side who now go second on the table with 22 points and two points below leaders Celtics.
Sakala who scored 13 goals in 30 appearances last season across all competitions has now begun his journey to redemption at Rangers with his two goals involvement in today’s match.
The rapid forward promised to double his goal tally of last season but he has faced heavy criticism from fans and lacked game time since the start of this season with some pundit and fans advising him to consider leaving the club.