Leon Balogun and Cyriel Dessers tasted defeat with Glasgow Rangers at the hand of bitter rivals, Celtic on Saturday.

The Nigerian duo were in action from the start in the Scottish Premier League top of the table clash which ended 2-1 in the favour of Celtic.

Balogun and Dessers came into this derby in fine form, having helped the Gers lift the Scottish Cup, reached the last 16 of the Europa League and reduced Celtic’s lead on top of the table.

However, they failed to make significant impact against a makeshift Celtic backline and Rangers paid dearly for it.

Cyriel Dessers missed a golden opportunity to put Rangers ahead after pouncing on a mistake from the defender, but failed to bury the chance.

It summed up his start to life in Scotland – despite scoring nine goals for the former Champions.

Also, Leon Balogun was dismissed in the second half, forcing Rangers to play last 30 minutes with 10 men.

The experience defender was sent off for hauling down Daizen Maeda, with the forward racing towards goal.

Meanwhile, Kyogo Furuhashi and Paulo Bernardo scored for Celtic while James Tavernier netted a late free kick to reduced the deficit.​

The defeat brought an end to Rangers’ 16 matches unbeaten run under Philippe Clement.