Amad Diallo at Rangers: Goals, assists, results & fixtures in 2021-22
FT Desk
- 21 May 2022 18:28 BST
- 7 min read
Will Amad Diallo Traore reignite his career at Glasgow Rangers? That is the question that everyone was asking after the teenage wonderkid completed a loan move to Ibrox during the January transfer window.
The answer is that he might not have hit the heights expected of him, but he has finished the season strongly and helped the Gers pick up the Scottish Cup thanks to a 2-0 extra-time victory over Hearts at Hampden.
Amad hit the headlines in January 2021 after he signed for Manchester United from Atalanta for a huge €40 million fee.
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It was a colossal fee for an 18-year-old who had made just five senior appearances for Atalanta prior to his move to the Premier League. But the reports that had come out of Italy suggested this was a once-in-a-generation talent.
Diallo was even labelled as the “next Lionel Messi” by his former Atalanta teammate Papu Gomez.
But, he struggled during his first year at Man Utd, rarely seeing any game time under first Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and then Ralf Rangnick.
With just one appearance for Man Utd in 2021-22, he accepted a loan move to Rangers until the end of the season in January 2022.
How is Amad Diallo doing at Rangers?
Well, he made a dream start as he scored just five minutes into his Rangers debut against Ross County, tapping home at the far post. However, he was mocked following the 3-3 draw having taken to Twitter after the match to post a compilation of his best moments.
Amad started again just four days later in the Old Firm derby against Celtic. However, the Ivorian endured a miserable evening and was substituted at half-time with Rangers trailing 3-0. This is how the game ended and meant that Celtic leapfrogged Rangers into first place.
Diallo was subsequently dropped for the visits of Hearts after his poor performance. He came on for the last five minutes of the 5-0 win, leaving him little time to make any impact.
Amad didn't even leave the bench in the following game as he watched from the sidelines for the entirety of Rangers' 2-0 win over Hibernian on February 9.
He was back in the starting XI for a Scottish Cup tie the following Saturday against League 2 side Annan. Strangely, he was used in a double pivot and had a relatively quiet match, though he did hit the bar with an effort in the second half.
Amad was back on the bench for the next game, receiving no minutes as Rangers earned a shock 4-2 win at Borussia Dortmund in the Europa League.
And the teenager again was left out in the 1-1 draw at Dundee United, although he did come on for the last 16 minutes.
Things failed to get any better the following week for Amad. He stayed on the bench for the return game against Borussia Dortmund as Rangers completed a famous aggregate win after a 2-2 draw at Ibrox. He also didn't see any game-time in the 1-1 draw with Motherwell.
Into March and Amad was not even named on the bench for the games against St Johnstone and Aberdeen due to injury.
He returned to the bench for the 3-0 wins over Red Star Belgrade in the Europa League last-16 first leg and Dundee in the FA Cup. He came on for the final 22 minutes of the latter without scoring.
But he stayed on the bench entirely for the last two games of March before the international break, seeing no minutes in the return game against Red Star Belgrade and the 2-1 Premiership victory versus Dundee.
It seemed as if Rangers had as good as given up on Amad by the time April came about. Following the March international break, Amad again stayed on the bench as Rangers lost 2-1 at home in the Old Firm Derby to Celtic.
He did make a rare outing off the bench as a substitute for the final 28 minutes of the 4-0 win over St Mirren but was then an unused sub in two massive cup matches.
He watched on as Rangers first made it through to the semis of the Europa League by beating Braga after extra time and then won the Scottish Cup against Celtic.
However, with Rangers facing an injury crisis in attack, he was recalled for a must-win Premiership clash against Motherwell. It proved to be a short-lived affair for Amad, but that was not his fault. Leon Balogun was sent off and he was the player sacrificed to make way for Calvin Bassey after just 31 minutes.
He was back on the bench for the 1-0 defeat to Leipzig in the Europa League semi-final first leg and the 1-1 draw with Celtic, playing just three minutes in the latter match.
Amad was an unused sub in the second-leg of the Europa League semi-final against Leipzig, but finally returned to scoresheet against Dundee United on 8 May. He came on at half-time and made an impact by netting in the 78th minute. He also created three key passes and completed three dribbles in a very promising cameo.
Amad Diallo vs Dundee United@Amaddiallo_19 💎 pic.twitter.com/bcYucYcfGo
— Tinka 🔴 (@UtdCode) May 9, 2022
Diallo enjoyed a decent end to the season as he made it two goals in as many games by also finding the net in the next match, playing the second half of a 4-1 win over Ross County. He was rewarded with a start in the 3-1 victory over Hearts.
Amad didn't have a role to play in the Europa League final loss against Frankfurt in Seville, but he did start the Scottish Cup final three days later against Hearts, picking up his first major honour at the end of that match, which ended 2-0 in the Gers' favour after extra-time.
Amad Diallo: 2021-22 stats at Rangers
Appearances: 13
Starts: 6
Goals: 3
Assists: 0
Amad Diallo: Matches played
Ross County 3-3 Rangers, January 29 – Premiership
Minutes played: 66
Goals: 1
Assists: 0
Amad Diallo's game by numbers vs Ross County:
100% cross accuracy
90.5% pass accuracy
38 touches
21 passes
4 shots
2 fouls won (=most)
1 take-on completed
1 chance created
1 goal
Great start. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/mO5bbHNLs4— Squawka Football (@Squawka) January 29, 2022
Celtic 3-0 Rangers, February 2 - Premiership
Minutes played: 45
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
Rangers 5-0 Hearts, February 6 - Premiership
Minutes played: 5
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
Rangers 2-0 Hearts, February 9 - Premiership
Minutes played: 0
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
Annan Athletic 0-3 Rangers, February 12 – Scottish Cup
Minutes played: 70
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
Borussia Dortmund 2-4 Rangers, February 17 – Europa League
Minutes played: 0
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
Dundee United 1-1 Rangers, February 20 – Premiership
Minutes played: 16
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
Rangers 2-2 Borussia Dortmund, February 24 – Europa League
Minutes played: 0
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
Rangers 1-1 Motherwell, February 27 – Premiership
Minutes played: 0
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
St Johnstone 0-1 Rangers, March 2 – Premiership
Minutes played: 0
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
Rangers 1-0 Aberdeen, March 5 – Premiership
Minutes played: 0
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
Rangers 3-0 Red Star Belgrade, March 10 – Europa League
Minutes played: 0
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
Dundee 0-3 Rangers, March 13 – FA Cup
Minutes played: 22
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
Red Star Belgrade 2-1 Rangers, March 17 – Europa League
Minutes played: 0
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
Dundee 1-2 Rangers, March 20 – Premiership
Minutes played: 0
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
Rangers 1-2 Celtic, April 3 – Premiership – Premiership
Minutes played: 0
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
Braga 1-0 Rangers, April 7 – Europa League
Minutes played: 0
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
St Mirren 0-4 Rangers, April 10 – Premiership
Minutes played: 28
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
Rangers 3-1 Braga, April 14 – Europa League
Minutes played: 0
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
Celtic 1-2 Rangers, April 17 – Premiership
Minutes played: 0
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
Motherwell 1-3 Rangers, April 23 - Premiership
Minutes played: 31
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
I always look on the bright side ... I get racist insults, they insult my mother but as a practicing Muslim I was raised differently and my education is to respect everyone🙌🏾 ... thanks to those who make me feel important a hug to you and happy sunday ♥ pic.twitter.com/BPhKzWJoaE
— Amad🇨🇮 (@Amaddiallo_19) April 23, 2022
Leipzig 1-0 Rangers, April 28 - Europa League
Minutes played: 0
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
Celtic 1-1 Rangers, May 1 - Premiership
Minutes played: 3
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
Rangers 2-0 Dundee United, May 8 - Premiership
Minutes played: 45
Goals: 1
Assists: 0
Rangers 4-1 Ross County, May 11 - Premiership
Minutes played: 45
Goals: 1
Assists: 0
Hearts 1-3 Rangers, May 14 - Premiership
Minutes played: 61
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
Eintracht Frankfurt 0-0 Rangers (5-4 pens), May 18 - Europa League
Minutes played: 0
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
Hearts 0-2 Rangers (aet), May 21 - Scottish Cup
Minutes played: 63
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
