Romanian legend Ilie Dumitrescu praised 'sensational' Ianis Hagi's mentality for bouncing back from being in the football wilderness to Old Firm hero.
Hagi opened the scoring to send Rangers on their way to an incredible 3-0 Premiership win against Celtic at Ibrox to net his first goal for the club since May 2023, with father Gheorghe proudly watching on.
He was frozen out at Rangers and also battled back from a serious knee injury.
And former Spurs and West Ham star Dumitrescu - who famously scored a double for Romania to eliminate Argentina in the 1994 World Cup quarter-finals - was full of praise for his countryman.
He said: "Ianis Hagi had a sensational match. He hit a very good shot that managed to surprise a goalkeeper as excellent as Kasper Schmeichel. But he was superb for the whole game.
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"I saw the look of Gheorghe after the goal and he remained impassive. That's because he would have been expecting Ianis to score. He never gets overexcited!
"We have to praise Ianis' mentality. To go through what he has been through and recover and then do this is exceptional. He had some terrible moments. He was given no opportunities to play.
"I also think we have to thank the national managers, Edi Iordanescu and Mircea Lucescu for continuing to invite him to the squads. It mattered a lot."
