At the beginning of December, following Rangers’ 1-0 defeat to Celtic in the Betfred Cup final, we outlined how Alfredo Morelos’ performance provided cause for concern in regards to his potential to perform effectively in the Premier League.
Crystal Palace have incidentally been linked with a move for the Colombia international, who has netted a staggering 28 goals in all competitions while also grabbing nine assists, but that cup final against the Bhoys was worrying.
Morelos missed a penalty and failed to dispatch a number of golden chances as Steven Gerrard’s men fell to a 1-0 defeat, despite having 16 shots to the Bhoys’ five.
His blank against Neil Lennon’s side on that day was the tenth successive game that Morelos had failed to score against Celtic, which is worrying for his chances of performing capably in England’s top-flight.
In Sunday’s meeting between the two Scottish giants, Rangers managed to record a win, although Morelos continued his personal struggles against Celtic and extended his goalless run against them to 11 games.
In addition to not finding the back of the net, the 23-year-old picked up a yellow card for a petulant barge on Scott Brown, before receiving a second yellow after attempting to con the referee with a dive when in on goal.
Furthermore, Morelos missed a golden opportunity to extend Rangers’ lead when he skied an effort from just outside the six-yard box following a low delivery from the left flank.
The goalless streak against Celtic – arguably one of few sides whose quality is comparable to that of a Premier League team – is one thing, but Morelos’ incompetence at keeping himself out of trouble and on the pitch is another.
His most recent sending off was Morelos’ second of the current campaign, having also received five red cards last season.
Hodgson simply can’t afford to have a player within his starting XI who has an enormous chance of doing something silly and getting sent off, especially with VAR in play – something that the Scottish top-flight hasn’t installed.
In other news, this ex-Palace target showed Hodgson exactly what he’s missing with an efficient striking performance…
