SOME STRIKING MISTAKES
Moult steals the show for Motherwell to leave Caixinha counting cost of yet another blunder
FROM a vantage point high in Hampden’s BT Stand, Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha watched another glaring mistake come back to haunt him. The bad calls and poor results are now mounting up. Louis Moult could prove the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
On Friday, the Ibrox boss offered a blunt admission. Before firing Motherwell into the final of the Betfred Cup with an opportunistic double, Moult featured on a list of Rangers transfer targets.
Third or fourth on the list, days like this suggest he should have featured a little higher. If he had, it might have been Rangers, rather than Motherwell, preparing to face Celtic in next month’s showpiece.
Moult, who also produced a match-winning display in the quarter-final victory over Aberdeen, is emerging as one of the stories of the season.
In the aftermath of his second goal — his 47th in 91 Motherwell appearances — the £50,000 signing from Wrexham jabbed a finger towards the heavens. A tribute to his late mother Vicky, the 25-year-old has become Scottish football’s man of the moment; the catalyst for a remarkable revival under manager Stephen Robinson which has now reaped seven wins in nine games. What Caixinha would give for a record like that.
The two managers watched the closing stages of a meaty semi-final from the stands after a heated verbal spat. It’s safe to say the Northern Irishman enjoyed the last word.
Where all this leaves Caixinha now remains to be seen. Chairman Dave King was captured on camera in the final moments of this game looking grim-faced and contemplative. Rangers release their accounts in the next week or so with a fraught AGM in prospect next month.
The Ibrox side host a Kilmarnock team on Wednesday night who will be galvanised by the recent arrival of Steve Clarke. They then travel to Edinburgh to face Hearts at Murrayfield on Saturday.
If Derek McInnes manages to inflict Celtic’s first domestic defeat in 61 games on Wednesday, the pressure on the Portuguese will only increase further.
For all the touchline anger and finger-jabbing towards referee Steven McLean here, a lack of composure in front of goal was the real reason Rangers lost.
The managerial bust-up happened after Caixinha blew a gasket when Ryan Bowman escaped a red card for a flailing elbow on Fabio Cardoso. The Rangers defender left the pitch with a broken nose, but gave as good as he got on 39 minutes when he caught Moult with an elbow.
Bruno Alves also kicked out at the striker in the dying throes of a day of Rangers frustration. The movements of the SFA Compliance Officer will be watched closely in the coming days, but nowhere near as carefully as those of Caixinha. Six points adrift of both Celtic and Aberdeen in the league, this defeat now makes anything less than victories against Kilmarnock and Hearts pretty much unthinkable. ‘We have players who were not at the levels (needed),’ acknowledged the Rangers boss. ‘I can’t say why they weren’t at those levels.
‘Collectively, it was a very poor performance.
‘We conceded the first goal after 52 minutes but, before that, we had two or three clear chances. I said to myself that arriving at those conditions of the game without scoring, maybe some bad things might come.
‘They were twice on our goal in the second half and they scored twice. That’s football, that’s what happens.’
Tradition dictates it rarely happens to Rangers. Nevertheless, few can claim to be surprised by another Hampden defeat.
Outwith Celtic and Aberdeen, Motherwell are Scotland’s form team. In Moult, they have a player in the form of his life — 11 goals in 15 games this season tells its own story.
His first strike on 52 minutes was a tale of dogged persistence. Chris Cadden had hit some poor set-pieces before the swirling, curling corner which threw Rangers goalkeeper Jak Alnwick into a flap.
Peter Hartley’s backpost header thumped off the crossbar with Alnwick flailing. Moult’s first attempt was cleared off the line by Ryan Jack. His second almost removed the net from its fixtures.
Under Caixinha, Rangers teams rarely respond well to adversity. So it proved here.
It hasn’t been the best of weekends for Scottish referees. Kevin Clancy’s penalty folly on Saturday was followed by McLean incensing Rangers by failing to send off Bowman in the 64th minute.
Already booked for a leading elbow on Daniel Candeias in the first half, Bowman deserved a second booking. The Fir Park side are an unashamedly physical team, but Rangers felt Motherwell took it too far at times. Charles Dunne
was fortunate to escape a card following contact with Alfredo Morelos as the striker threatened to burst through on goal in the first half.
Hartley took a pre-match vow to go Buffalo-hunting with the Colombian a little too literally, following Bowman into the book.
By the time Cardoso left the pitch for hospital with blood pouring from his nose — keeper Alnwick would follow him later with an arm injury — Caixinha was a seething mass of injustice on the sidelines.
Being sent to the stand worked out better for Robinson than it did for his sparring partner.
‘It was a great second goal we scored,’ joked the Motherwell boss later. ‘I had a great view from where I was.’
In an emotive Sportsmail interview on Saturday, Moult spoke of his struggles with the loss of his mother and a career of self doubt following his early release from Stoke City. Yet the finish he produced for the killer goal told of soaring confidence and a career on an upward trajectory.
There were 16 minutes left to play when he beat an offside claim to race on to Dunne’s sweeping long ball. One on one with Alnwick, he calmly lobbed the ball into the top corner from 20 yards.
Aberdeen tried to sign the Englishman in the summer and lived to regret their failure when he dumped them in the quarter-finals. By last night, Rangers were another club questioning their judgement in the transfer market.
They could have used some opportunistic finishing in the opening half hour, when Motherwell looked decidedly nervous and porous at the back.
Josh Windass had three great early chances. He sidefooted a tame effort from a decent position in the second minute straight into the arms of Trevor Carson.
There was an even better chance half an hour later, a Candeias lay-off fired tamely towards goal from 12 yards despite time and space to get it right. Another opportunity fell to Morelos on 20 minutes after Cedric Kipre — a pre-match illness doubt — made a terrible mess of a defensive header. Windass blew another opening early in the second half.
Yet Motherwell ended both halves the better team. Creating the better chances in a thrilling game of football, they merited their place in the final.
‘I’m delighted for everyone at the football club,’ said Robinson afterwards. ‘There have been dark days and it’s nice to repay the faith they had in me and I’m chuffed to bits to be involved and associated with that team.
‘It would be nice to beat Celtic now, wouldn’t it? Somebody has to beat them at some point. Why not us?’