The Kevin De Bruyne instruction that Rangers star was tasked to emulate as Beale gives impressive ace applause

Rabbi Matondo admits he was urged by Rangers boss Philippe Clement to emulate a Kevin De Bruyne strike for Manchester City - insisting his sublime injury-time equaliser against Celtic was the best goal of his career to date.

The Welsh international cut inside and curled a stunning strike beyond Joe Hart into the top right-hand corner of the net in the 93rd minute to help his Ibrox team mates salvage a 3-3 draw with their arch rivals on Sunday.

It marked a significant moment in the Scottish Premiership title race, with the Govan outfit now turning their attention to their game in hand against Dundee at Dens Park on Wednesday night. Rangers sit only a point behind Brendan Rodgers’ Hoops in the league table heading into the split.

Matondo - who sprung off the bench to score a near identical goal in the 3-1 victory over Hibs at the same ground just eight days earlier - confessed he had been challenged before kick-off by Clement to attempt one of De Bruyne’s goals during City’s win over Crystal Palace on Saturday.

“I ran over to him (the manager) after I scored because we were speaking before the game and he asked me if I saw Kevin De Bruyne’s goal yesterday,” Matondo said. “We work a lot in training and he works a lot with me on cutting inside and getting shots off and keeping it low in the corners.

“So I said to him, ‘Yeah, I did see De Bruyne’s goal’. But it wasn’t quite low in the corner in the way he wants me to do it. So he said that when you get to the level like Kevin De Bruyne has, that’s his thing to hit the top corner. He said, ‘you’ll get there maybe one day’. And I said, ‘I’ll show you today!’ I think I showed it quite well, so I ran over to him to embrace it, which was nice.

“Do you know what? I can’t really remember it right now, it’s all a blur. It happened so quick. I just thought to take my man on and just get a shot on target. Thankfully it’s flown into the top corner.”

Asked if it was the biggest goal of his career, Matondo replied: “One hundred per cent, especially in a game like this. We know how much it means to everyone involved with Rangers, so to get a goal like that and to help the team get something from the game was obviously a moment I’ll keep forever.”

Matondo - so often the crucial impact sub for Rangers this season - has received extensive praise for his crucial leveller, including from Michael Beale who posted a photo on his Instagram story with the caption “Rabbi” followed by a clapping hands emoji.