'That's a statement' - Danny Rohl revels in Rangers newfound scoring belief after boosting tally in epic nine-goal thriller
The Rangers boss has been discussing his side’s epic 6-3 Premiership win over Falkirk after their title charge was given a scare
Danny Rohl insists goal difference could prove decisive in the Scottish Premiership title race after Rangers gave their tally a boost courtesy of a thrilling 6-3 victory over Falkirk on Sunday.
The Light Blues staged a second half comeback as they recovered from two goals down in a chaotic nine-goal contest to leapfrog Celtic into second place and move back to within a point of league leaders Hearts.
After both of their title rivals emerged victorious on Saturday, Rangers broke a surprising trend by recording three points of their own - ensuring it was only the second time this season where they, Hearts and Celtic have all won on the same weekend.
They did it the hard way thanks to braces from Youssef Chermiti and Bojan Miovski in addition to strikes by Tochi Chukwuani and Nicolas Raskin. Those came after Ben Broggio and Finn Yeats had fired the hosts into a commanding lead, while Calvin Miller also converted a second half spot-kick.
Providing some insight into his half-time team talk, a relieved Rohl admitted: “It wasn’t necessary for me to give too many emotions at half-time because the players themselves were emotional. They spoke to each other and were honest. That shows we’re growing as a group and we have leaders in the right moments.
“It was more important to give them my trust and make them believe in what we are doing. The other part was about what we had to adjust, I was able to give them some instructions and solutions. We changed our press a little bit. We allowed the opponent too many long balls in behind. It was better in the second half. We were more hungry and front-footed which helps.
“I’m proud of the players. We brought ourselves some trouble in the first few minutes. You felt we needed a bit of time to adjust to the pitch and how the ball was bouncing. But then we were 2-0 down and it’s tough against an opponent that has quality. The 2-1 was very helpful to us before half-time. In the second half, it was one direction.
“In three games, we have 14 goals now and nine different scorers. That’s also a statement. Of course, we also have to speak about the conceded goals because they were too easy. But overall, it’s great to see the group in this way. Not so long ago, we were talking about who could and who couldn’t score. Now we’ve had nine different scorers, which helps us.”
Rangers’ goal difference now stands at +35 with Hearts on +30 and Celtic on +24.
“Maybe at the end, that could be the difference to the other two teams,” Rohl added. “It could be the difference in the title race but nobody knows at the moment which direction it will go. You can enjoy it because there will be stories until the end. We’ll just do our job to be part of that story.”