Super Eagles and Rangers forward Cyriel Dessers was delighted after he got on the scoresheet in his side's 3-0 win over Viktoria Plzen in their UEFA Champions League qualifier, Soccernet.ng reports.
The 30-year-old has been linked with a move away from Ibrox, with AEK Athens submitting a bid for the former Feyenoord man, but Rangers rejected the offer.
The Greek side have gone on to sign another striker, hinting the Belgium-born Nigerian could be set for another season with the Scottish giants.
Dessers has been a bit-part player under Russell Martin this season. The former Southampton coach has started Danilo in four of Rangers' five games this season.
The Nigerian forward, up until yesterday, had played 53 minutes from four games this season, but was thrown into the starting line-up last night, and he made it count.
The ex-Cremonese man set up Rangers' first goal of the night, placing a deft pass into the path of Djeidi Gassama.
Djeidi Gassama once again. His third goal in three consecutive European games.pic.twitter.com/IjjMEkaOuT
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) August 5, 2025
Dessers grabbed his goal just before half-time, dispatching his penalty with ease to send the Gers three goals up.
Nuce on Cyriel. Dessers makes it no 2. @RangersFC #ChampionsLeague qualifiers. pic.twitter.com/SMBSbn12rh
— NaeBull (@NaeBull) August 5, 2025
Gassama scored Rangers' third goal yesterday, but Dessers revealed Russell Martin's comments in the wake of Rangers' draw against Motherwell did not give them added motivation to step up against Viktoria Plzen since they are expected to show the same level of intensity in every single game.
“No, not really. I think you need to have this motivation, always,” the Super Eagles striker told BBC Sport Scotland in quotes revealed by the Daily Record.
“I think he said it at the weekend as well that it's easy to have it for the European and Old Firm games, but you need it in every league game because there are no easy games in the SPFL. We need to pick up our level there as well.”
“They are young, exciting players, and it is good that we got them in. I am sure they are going to grow from here on, but for me, it is a pleasure to play with them. Hopefully, they can continue like this,” Dessers concluded.
Rangers coach lauds Dessers
Russell Martin was also pleased with the performance Dessers put in at Ibrox last night, and revealed why the club's top goalscorer over the past two campaigns has been subjected to limited game time since the season kicked off.
“We haven’t been able to play Cyriel from the start yet because he played one game against Middlesbrough and got a bit of an injury, so we’ve been managing him back to get him on the pitch. He did great tonight,” the ex-Southampton boss said in quotes revealed by Rangers official website.
“We scored some real quality goals tonight. Cyriel [Dessers] did a brilliant job attracting players so others could run in-behind, and he took the ball in well.”
