Makhanya praises Rangers’ defensive display in victory over Celtic

Rangers defender Olwethu Makhanya says complete concentration was key as his side secured another win over arch-rivals Celtic in the Glasgow derby.

The result gave Rangers a second successive victory against Celtic, following their 3-0 Scottish League Cup quarter-final win last week. Rangers have now moved to within two points of the league leaders in the title race.

Makhanya, who joined Rangers during the current transfer window, thought he had scored his first goal for the club. However, his effort was ruled out by VAR for handball.

The 22-year-old acknowledged the challenge of facing Celtic away from home but was pleased with the way Rangers defended throughout the match.

“I feel like defensively, coming here we knew it was going to be a difficult game, we expected a tough game,” he told Sky Sports.

“So, we had to be 100% focused throughout the whole game. Defensively I’m very happy with how we played.”

The South Africa international also underlined the importance of the result as Rangers continue to chase Celtic at the top of the league.

“It’s very important for us, every game is important,” he added.

“We keep on just focusing on one game at a time. We came here; we were focused on this game.

“We’re going to the international break now. When we come back, we just take it one game at time.”