T OF STRAPLINE
hoodoo busted with a 2-0 win over Morton in 2016.
It’s not bad for a manager who supposedly can’t get a team up for the big occasion and some Gers fans might have changed their view.
As the former England captain stood on the to touchline with the rain lashing down it was so different from his dugout debut eight months ago when the sun was shining against FK Shkupi.
Gerrard could have settled for a cushy number at the Liverpool Academy but wanted this pressure and now he’ll soon find out what it’s like when the heat is really on.
He wanted talisman Alfredo Morelos to be a matchwinner while avoiding the booking that would have ruled him out of the semi-final. In the end he managed neither.
Prior to kick-off Gers fans paid homage to club legend Eric Caldow who never picked up a single yellow card in a career spanning 14 years and over 500 senior games.
During a remarkable career, the ex-Scotland full-back won five league championships, three League Cups, two Scottish Cups and was remembered at Ibrox last night with a minute’s silence after he passed away last month at 84.
Once the action got underway the question was whether Morelos could go 90 minutes without having his name taken.
The answer came on 32 minutes when ref Kevin Clancy reached into his pocket to show the Colombian a yellow card for simulation.
Morelos went down under Dons defender Considine’s challenge just as he did to earn him the booking for diving in the first game at Pittodrie. It was the 17th time the striker, called up to the Colombia squad this week, had been booked this season along with four reds.
He let the fans down when they needed him most having also been booked in the Betfred Cup quarterfinal against Ayr that ruled him out of the semi-final loss to Aberdeen although it won’t affect him this season.