Report from the League Cup semi-final between Motherwell and Rangers at Hampden Park on Sunday; Philippe Clement's side come from behind to book final showdown with Celtic on December 15 thanks to goals from Cyriel Dessers and Nedim Bajrami
Sunday 3 November 2024 18:57, UK
Rangers will defend their Scottish League Cup final crown next month after coming from behind to beat Motherwell 2-1 in their semi-final at Hampden Park.
Philippe Clement's side - who beat Aberdeen 1-0 in last December's final - have booked a showdown with fierce rivals Celtic at Hampden Park on Sunday December 15.
Rangers were already feeling the heat after a 2-1 defeat to Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership last time out left them nine points behind both the second-placed Dons and leaders Celtic - and that cranked up when former Ger Andy Halliday put Motherwell in front against the run of play after 25 minutes.
Clement's half-time team talk appeared to do the trick, however, with Cyriel Dessers atoning for missing a sitter before the break with a smart finish after the ball was fed into him by Connor Barron.
They had further chances to win the game, but it was not until the 81st minute that Nedim Bajrami collected a sweeping ball from Vaclav Cerny and clipped a shot that beat goalkeeper Aston Oxborough with the help of a deflection.
Smoke engulfed the arena due to pyros and flare from both ends of the ground which led to a delayed kick-off - as was the case in Saturday's semi-final - but when referee Nick Walsh gave the go-ahead the Light Blues took control.
Dessers should have sent Bajrami racing clear on goal but his pass was poor and intercepted, moments before Cerny's drive was saved by Oxborough, who would have a solid game.
In the 12th minute, Jefte played in Dessers but he dragged an unconvincing shot from 16 yards past the far post.
The Steelmen scored with their first chance, Steve Seddon crossing from the left for Halliday arrive at the back post - while Jefte ran away from the danger - and stab the ball past keeper Jack Butland before refusing to celebrate against his old team.
A lengthy delay while the VAR checked for an offside earlier in the move ended with referee Walsh confirming the goal and more cheers from the Well supporters.
Rangers' response was a powerful 20-yard drive from midfielder Connor Barron which was pushed round the post by Oxborough but the corner came to nothing.
An anti-board banner was revealed by the Union Bears, Rangers' ultras-style fans group, and the boos soon followed.
Gers' problems increased when Tom Lawrence picked up a knee injury and was replaced by Mohamed Diomande and when his curling shot in the 41st minute was parried by Oxborough, Dessers somehow missed the target with the loose ball.
The keeper made another save from a John Souttar header just before the break, with the Rangers players heading up the tunnel with the boos of their fans ringing in their ears.
Dessers got them back onside soon after the restart, however, when he converted Barron's pass from six yards.
As Rangers increased the pressure, Jefte cracked the post with a left-footed drive from the edge of the box and then skipper James Tavernier lofted a Bajrami cut back over the bar from six yards.
Cerny had two attempts on goal thwarted by the increasingly busy Oxborough and the Govan side kept pushing, with Motherwell's sporadic attacks still promising.
However, nine minutes from time, the Light Blues broke with pace and Cerny turned inside and set up Bajrami, whose shot from a tight angle clipped defender Kofi Balmer and sped past Oxborough, this time helpless.
Cerny struck the post in added time before Barron headed over but Well looked beaten.
Celtic, however, will prove an altogether different challenge in the final.
Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell:
"Bitterly disappointed. I think everyone can see how much we poured into the game. We obviously got ourselves into a real good position at half-time.
"You believe that there's always going to be some sort of fall-out, from Rangers' point of view. You know there's going to be a reaction. And, as I said to the players there, I never want to be a glorious loser.
"So I don't want to sit here in front of anybody and start to make excuses or start to pat ourselves on the back because we get to this stage.
"It's been a good achievement to get here. But we just felt that in moments of the game we probably just lacked that wee bit of composure and a wee bit better decision-making.
"But the next stage for us, off the back of what is a sore one today, is just to try and pick the players up, because we don't want a hangover off the back of a disappointing day."
Rangers manager Philippe Clement:
"We can go where we want to be, which is the final.
"We had that amazing feeling together with the fans last season and we can battle for that again. That was the aim of today and it's also a well-deserved victory in that way. It was probably the worst scenario that you can have.
"Starting the game well, creating chances and then on the first really dangerous ball in the box that you can see the goal.
"But this needs to be also a reference game for this squad, for this new squad. To do what we've been doing a lot last season and it's to dig in and in every situation to keep our belief, to keep on going, to keep on fighting and to break the wall if we go behind.
"This can be a massive game at the end of the season to have this one as a reference. I want to see every three days this mentality. That's what we've been talking about but talking is not enough. We need to do it on the pitch."
