The last time these two met in the League Cup last four, it was blood and thunder – literally, in one case.
It’s Rangers vs Motherwell in the League Cup semi-finals. And if it’s anything like the last time these sides met at this stage, it’s set to be brutal, fiery and incident-packed.
Philippe Clement and Stuart Kettlewell will joust for a place in the final against either Celtic or Aberdeen and it’s the first time they’ve faced off in the last four since October 2017 – a day that went down in fame and infamy for a number of reasons.
Motherwell fans will best remember it for a stunning Louis Moult performance and want more of the same from their team this weekend. The Englishman, then in the form of his life, scored both of their goals in a 2-0 win, famously lobbing Jak Alnwick from range for the second at the national stadium.
But it was also one of the most ill-tempered games ever seen at the national stadium. Between those two goals, Gers defender Fabio Cardoso had his nose broken by a Ryan Bowman elbow – an incident completely missed by official Steven McLean. And with no VAR back then, it went unpunished, much to the rage of the Rangers bench.
Cardoso was left with blood streaming down his face, looking like he’d been ‘shot’ according to Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers, and had to go off injured. That sparked a furious touchline fracas that seen both Pedro Caixinha and Stephen Robinson BOTH sent to the stands.
Rodgers, then in the second season of his first spell at Parkhead, watched that one as his team went on to beat Motherwell in the Final. And he understood Caixinha’s fury.
He said: “The centre-half came off the pitch on Sunday… Christ, if he’d been shot, he wouldn’t have looked worse. It was unbelievable. I can see why Pedro would have been annoyed — absolutely.
“You are endangering players’ lives and careers with some of the challenges we saw. It was the same player who tackled Kieran last season and it went unpunished. There was a couple of decisions on Sunday that would’ve worried me. I thought the authority from the officials in the game was poor.
“It’s also the welfare of players you are looking at. We all want our team to be aggressive and committed but you also want officials to stamp out anything that goes beyond that and I felt Sunday lacked authority in terms of officiating. You have to make it as uncomfortable as you can for the opponent but if it goes beyond that and it becomes reckless and you are endangering an opponent, then you have to look at it. There is retrospective action available, so in situations like this you have to look at it.”
That wasn’t the end of the controversy. Rangers defender Bruno Alves was left visibly raging and kicked out at Moult on the floor, another incident missed by the officials that went unpunished, on a day where – somehow – only five players were booked.
A raging Alves said after the game: “This was not good behaviour. I am disappointed about today. The referee could have done better. The first action of the game was the elbow in Fabio’s face. After that, everything can happen.
It doesn’t matter if it was deliberate. He opened the mouth of Fabio and this is not a good thing. This was the beginning. This is not acceptable. I don’t like to find excuses for when we lose but for me it is really disappointing. You start off playing football and then you are playing other things.
“I am sad because we lost the game and I am sad about what happened. Fabio broke his nose. I am disappointed with this.
