YOU LITTLE CORKER
Vintage stuff from Alfredo as hat-trick ace shows why Gerrard branded Bordeaux plonkers over bid
ALFREDO MORELOS might not be flitting to the French wine region but at least the Rangers frontman got his hands on some champagne.
The Colombian clutched the man of the match award in one hand and had the Rugby Park match ball in his other plundering a hat-trick to send the Ibrox men marching in to the last eight of the Betfred Cup.
Morelos could have had half a dozen in a vintage display that showed just why Steven Gerrard told Bordeaux to put a cork in it after slapping in a bid for £3.75million.
The hitman is priceless to the Gers boss on this form.
He could even afford to shrug off a disallowed effort inside the opening 10 minutes that was over the line as Rangers eventually steamrollered the Kilmarnock resistance.
Morelos struck twice before the break, Borna Barisic’s own goal was a temporary bump before the striker made sure Gerrard’s impressive start to his reign rumbled on.
The victory didn’t come without a cost though as Jamie Murphy suffered a horrendous-looking twist on his knee on the controversial Rugby Park surface.
Connor Goldson had to grin and bear his way through the final half hour while Nikola Katic ended up with the Terry Butcher look after a head knock.
Nothing was going to wreck the Gers mood though.
Gerrard’s unbeaten start has led the side a step on the way to silverware and on the verge of the Europa League group stages.
The European adventure has fuelled the feelgood factor at Ibrox but shuffling around the continent every week comes with its problems.
And that was before Gerrard picked up a few more walking wounded after 90 bruising minutes on the ropey Rugby Park pitch.
Gerrard has admitted his squad could do with some beefing up but there was room for some tweaking in Ayrshire.
Wes Foderingham might have expected to be elsewhere but he got a run out while Barisic and Ryan Kent came in, with Maribor hero Allan McGregor allowed an afternoon with his feet up while Ryan Jack and Daniel Candeias had to keep theirs busy on the bench.
Steve Clarke did some re-jigging of his own between the sticks with Daniel Bachmann handed a debut with Eamonn Brophy up top in place of Mikael Ndjoli.
Killie didn’t start like a side who were just going to camp in as they took the game to Rangers, who also looked lively.
There was a nice fiery cup tie brewing, especially with controversy lurking just around the corner.
It took barely eight minutes to make an appearance with Gers fans howling in anger when they felt they should have been singing in celebration.
Morelos managed to nudge the ball goalward after Ryan Kent fired his cross in to the danger line.
Stephen O’Donnell frantically hoofed clear but there was strong suspicion in the away support the ball had crept over the line.
The growling sense of injustice was only cranked up a notch when Morelos hit the deck in the box after some attention from Scott Boyd and the penalty shouts were ignored.
Gers were furious but the game raged on.
Twice Foderingham had to react to devilish free kicks from Chris Burke.
The keeper tipped one over but the second was even more wicked, whipped through the crowd and in to the near post before being diverted over the bar. It was breakneck, breathless stuff.
Amid all the din there was a brutal blow for Murphy. He went over awkwardly and stayed down behind the touchline after chasing down a lost cause before being forced to depart the scene on a stretcher.
Bachmann brilliantly blocked Morelos but the keeper couldn’t keep out the Colombian for long. The close range header was a neat finish but the goal was all about the ball.
James Tavernier supplied a swinging cross that took a nick on the way to leave defenders in such a state of confusion it practically scrambled the letters of the back of their jerseys.
The pair combined again to double the advantage two minutes before the
break. Tavernier’s ball up the channel was more hopeful than anything else – but the rest was down to brute strength and a cool head by Morelos.
He superbly rolled Scott Boyd, held the defender off, and then drilled in the bottom corner. Talk about timing.
Killie were still posing plenty of threat by that stage with Kirk Broadfoot’s header clipping the bar and a Jordan Jones cross close to being turned in.
But Morelos had the bottle as he pounced to give the Light Blues some breathing room. Not for long though.
Gers fans were in party mood and giving it the oles while Kilmarnock sliced them open to get back in to the game after Jones showed quick feet to fire over a cross that Barisic inadvertently diverted in to his own net with Kris Boyd uncomfortably close for company.
Katic ended up with a bandaged napper after a nasty clash with Brophy but Rangers didn’t seem to be too dazed by the Killie dunt.
The chances continued to pile up for Morelos. He blazed one over then saw a header blocked by Bachmann.
It was only a matter of time before the ball was going up his juke though.
Tavernier’s delivery was again key as he provided the supply line and Morelos tucked away from close range to settle the tie.
The striker was the toast of the Gers support, while his gaffer must be tempted to lock him in the wine cellar until the end of the transfer window.