THE winning goal that Nedim Bajrami scored for Rangers in their Premier Sports Cup semi-final against Motherwell at Hampden with nine minutes of regulation time remaining this afternoon had more than a touch of good fortune about it.
The Albanian winger took a heavy first touch after being supplied in space by his team mate Vaclac Cerny and his shot only eluded goalkeeper Aston Oxborough after taking a deflection off of defender Kofi Balmer.
But the Ibrox club players and their manager Philippe Clement will take a little luck at the moment.
They went into this last four tie with the boos of their own supporters still ringing in their ears after their 2-1 defeat to Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Wednesday evening – a loss which left them nine points behind their opponents and Celtic at the top of the William Hill Premiership table after 10 league fixtures.
They were jeered off the pitch by their own followers at the end of the opening 45 minutes today having fallen behind to a criminally soft Andy Halliday goal. It looked at that stage in proceedings that Clement might very well be taking charge of his final Rangers match.
However, second half strikes from Cyriel Dessers and Bajrami averted disaster, set up an Old Firm final against their city rivals next month and eased the pressure on the Belgian considerably. Here are five talking points from the encounter.
Missed Rangers opportunities
Rangers could and should have been comfortably ahead by half-time had it not been for their lack of ruthlessness in the final third and the exceptional play of Motherwell goalkeeper Aston Oxborough.
Cerny had an early attempt held, Dessers fired well wide after being supplied by Jefte and the winger shelled a poor attempt well over the crossbar after Bajrami had teed him up.
But Oxborough also did superbly to deny Connor Barron, Tom Lawrence before he limped off injured, Bajrami and Mohammed Diomande. The Englishman kept his side level and then ahead.
But Dessers should have restored parity in the 44th minute. The £4.5m striker just had to get his shot on target to equalise and somehow contrived to fire wide. Balmer was sliding in to block, but there could be no excuse. Felip Sebo would have been mortified.
The Nigerian internationalist made amends when he round off a well-worked attack down the right flank involving James Tavernier, Cerny and Barron four minutes into the second half. His deft first time finish atoned for his earlier howler.
But Tavernier fired past the right post on the hour mark after Bajrami had squared across the face of the Motherwell goal.
It was maybe no great surprise when Clement hooked both Dessers and Tavernier and put on Danilo and Dujon Sterling shortly after that bad miss. His men made life far, far harder for themselves than they needed to.
Motherwell steel
With Paul McGinn and Stephen O’Donnell both out injured, young Motherwell midfielder Lennon Miller, who only turned 18 back in August, donned the captain’s armband.
It would have been asking a lot of the prodigiously talented youngster to take on such responsibility in such a big game in any circumstances. But with Ross Callachan, Sam Nicholson, Harry Paton, Callum Slattery and Jack Vale all sidelined, he was very much leading out a weakened side.
Kettlewell, though, was confident the lad who has become the hottest property in the Scottish game in the past couple of seasons could cope with it. “We talk about him being a phenomenon on the pitch,” he told BBC Scotland before the match. “But I have to make sure emotionally that he's set with it. I trust him implicitly.”
If Miller was feeling any nerves about being made skipper, it did not show. He helped the underdogs to withstand the intense pressure they were being put under by the strong favourites and then snatch the lead against the run of play.
Humble Halliday
The midfielder did superbly to divert Steve Seddon’s cross beyond Jack Butland and put Motherwell in front. He stole in between Leon Balogun and Jefte, who showed he is a makeshift left-back by running away from the delivery, and made contact with the ball at full-stretch.
The Fir Park club’s supporters went nuts at the other end of the park. But the lifelong Rangers supporter and former Ibrox player did not celebrate his strike in front of his fellow fans. He held his hands up almost apologetically.
There will be some who feel he should have shown more emotion given the occasion, others who believe he did the right thing. Still, nobody in the Motherwell support will be criticising the man who gave them a vital edge in this semi-final with a moment of magic.
The Rangers end acknowledged Halliday’s gesture towards the end when they chanted his name.
Improvement required
Rangers dominated Motherwell for most of this match and would have prevailed comfortably if Oxborough had not been in such inspired form. But they will have to raise their games considerably to beat Celtic and retain their trophy on Sunday, December 15. Not least in attack. The gulf in quality remains considerable on this evidence.
Pyro problem
The start of both of the Premier Sports Cup semi-finals this weekend were delayed by several minutes due to poor visibility inside Hampden caused by coordinated pyrotechnic displays.
Flares, smoke bombs and strobes were set off by Motherwell and Rangers ultras as the teams came out of the tunnel and it took some time for the smoke those devices emitted to clear.
There was a meeting involving representatives of the Scottish government, the SFA, the SPFL, the Football Safety Officers Association and Police Scotland last November after kick-off in the Premiership match between Dundee and Rangers at Dens Park was delayed. Nothing has happened since.
The authorities need to get to grips with this escalating problem before there is another serious injury in the stands or on the park.
