What Rangers did to 'haunt' Motherwell and make them lose composure

Rangers players showed they have a bit about them by coming from behind to beat Motherwell on Sunday.

Some would have been fearing the worst after Andy Halliday’s semi-final opener at Hampden, especially after the way the team toiled to get back into games at Kilmarnock and Aberdeen.

But they showed they can pull the sleeves up and grind their way back into games, as well as providing the moments of quality when required.

It was a deserved win in the end despite some claims from the Fir Park camp that they were the better side.

Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

How Rangers spooked Motherwell

In fact, it seems Rangers‘ response to going behind actually spooked the Motherwell players and knocked them off their stride.

Despite claiming Gers fans “turned on” the team after going behind, Ewan Wilson has also admitted that the players stopped the Steelmen from playing their game.

Philippe Clement made positive changes to get Danilo, Mohamed Diomande, Dujon Sterling and Neraysho Kasanwirjo on the pitch and began to play with more pace and intensity.

On top of that, Danilo had positive movement and caused the opposition backline more problems than Cyriel Dessers had been.

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That is likely what caused Motherwell to start playing long and losing an element of control.

Wilson said: “I don’t really know how to sum it up. It was a tough one. We started well, we had them on the back foot when we scored and their fans turned on them straight away after that. Then in the second half we just stopped doing what we are good at. We need to get the ball down and play, instead of just kicking it long.

“That was what we were forced to do and it came back straight away. That haunted us. The Rangers winner came from that, we launched it, we didn’t land on the second ball and then we tried to play through a tight gap and they broke. We weren’t able to recover as we were all pressing so hard to get the equaliser.

“I don’t know if you would call nerves but we didn’t have that composure. We didn’t get it down enough. We weren’t relaxed on the ball. That is really frustrating because when we did play, we carved out some good opportunities.”

Andy Halliday on not celebrating against Rangers

Andy Halliday has been criticised for not celebrating his goal as he put Motherwell ahead against his former club.

But the ex-Rangers midfielder insists he would do the same thing again – as well as if he scored against Hearts.

Speaking on Clyde One Superscoreboard, he said: “Nothing should surprise me in the in the west of Scotland especially when it’s something that happens across world football.

“But it just so seems that it does surprise me at the weekend again as the last thing I was I was certainly trying to do was disrespect Motherwell that’s for sure.

“I’ve heard that comment being branded about over the last couple of days which to me is embarrassing. “I’ll bite my tongue before I start digging individuals out.”

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