Naderi double fires Rangers top as stunning run continues
Rangers are top of the Scottish Premiership after Ryan Naderi scored twice in the first half to beat Kilmarnock.
Kilmarnock kept fighting to the end. Nicky Clesenco grabbed a late consolation goal, but Rangers held on to complete their sixth league win in a row BBC Sport.
It is quite a turnaround. Rangers took only one point from their first two league games of the season. That victory over Kilmarnock was their seventh win in a row in all competitions.
Naderi is the man driving it. The striker arrived at the Kilmarnock game with three goals in his past two league matches. He then added a first-half double to take his run to five in three.
His recent list makes good reading for Rangers fans. He scored the winner in a 1-0 league win away to Celtic. He also scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Motherwell in early September, after a mistake by Motherwell goalkeeper Alex Paulsen BBC Sport.
That Motherwell win was Rangers' third league victory in a row at the time. Three weeks later, they have doubled that streak and hit the top of Scotland's top flight.
Naderi's rise has been fast. He signed for Rangers from Hansa Rostock in February, when the German club were playing in the third tier. He was 22 years old and was head coach Danny Röhl's fourth signing of the January transfer window, according to the club Rangers.
He made his debut as a substitute in a 5-1 league win. His first season was quiet. He scored one league goal, plus two against Queen's Park in the League Cup, Scotland's second cup competition.
The past few weeks have changed his story. He made his Czech Republic debut in the week before the Kilmarnock match. He then made his first start for his country at Wembley against England, a 3-0 defeat in the Nations League, a tournament where European national teams play competitive matches outside major finals BBC Sport.
Former Rangers striker Peter Lovenkrands has compared Naderi to Thomas Muller on BBC Sportsound. Muller, the German forward, was famous for clever movement and finding space rather than raw pace.
What makes this stand out is the timing. Rangers needed someone to finish chances when their season was stuttering. Naderi, once a little-known signing from Germany's lower leagues, is now scoring the goals that win derbies, break down stubborn defences and take a team top.
