Fabio Silva shines for Rangers as Scott Brown can't derail Scottish Cup surge with battling Ayr - 3 talking points
A goal in either half from Borna Barisic and Fabio Silva sealed the Light Blues place in the last eight
Rangers booked their spot in the quarter finals of the Scottish Cup as Oscar Cortes impressed on his first start and Fabio Silva notched his second goal in light blue.
But the Ibrox side were made to fight as Scott Brown’s fired-up Championship side produced a performance reflective of their boss and were well in the game until Silva’s 76th minute clincher. In the end the home side had too much quality with Ayr and Brown - who earned himself the third biggest cheer of the evening by picking up a second half booking - left to focus on their play-off ambitions.
Cortes was the brightest spark for Rangers and almost had his first Gers goal after just a minute and 15 seconds when he cut in off the left and sent a right footed shot flashing off the far post. After six minutes the Colombian stung Robbie Mutch’s hands with another 20 yarder off the same side. But Ayr’s resistance lasted only 10 minutes when Barisic struck his first goal of the season after more good work from Cortes.
The Honest Men failed to clear their lines and the new boy picked the ball up on the left, cut back for Barisic whose first time effort flew low into the net with a slight deflection. Anton Dowds could have pinched a leveller with Ayr’s first proper attack only to be foiled by a perfectly timed last ditch tackle from John Souttar.
Cortes was determined to get that first goal and dragged an effort just wide with his left peg five minutes before the break. Barisic was then denied a second goal by Robbie Mutch when his volley from James Tavernier’s deep cross deflected off George Stanger and required a stunning reaction save from the Ayr keeper.
Ayr’s best chance of a leveller fell to Ben Dempsey shortly after the break but the midfielder got his volley from Jamie Murphy’s cross all wrong and fired wide.
At the other end Fabio Silva can perhaps count himself lucky he never copped a second yellow card after appearing to catch George Stanger late. That was enough to send Scott Brown into a rage on the touchline with Collum eventually flashing a yellow card in the former Celtic skipper’s direction. And that was as good as a second goal for the appreciative home support.
Cortes had an overhead kick booted off the line by Sean McGinty before the Colombian was replaced by Rabbi Matondo on the hour mark. And Rangers finally put the game to bed when Silva slammed home his second Gers goal, pouncing on the rebound after sub Todd Cantwell’s clever flick to the back post was hacked off the line.
Oscar award
A 20th victory as Rangers boss for Philippe Clement. Not as comfortable as the Belgian would have liked. But there were positives. None more so than the 60 minute man of the match performance Oscar Cortes produced in his first start since his loan move from Lens. Playing off the left the winger showed quick feet, a hunger to take on his man and, with three close calls in the first half, a willingness to shoot on sight. The Colombian gave Nick McAllister a torrid time and set up the opening goal for Borna Barisic to give Clement plenty to ponder as the season hurtles towards its business end.
Mohamed Diomande enjoyed a quiet but efficient first start in the middle of midfield where he lined up beside Ryan Jack and Nico Raskin as Clement made seven changes to the side that defeated Aberdeen in midweek. Overall the Ibrox side produced a professional performance, Jack Butland wasn’t overly tested, and a place in the last eight was
Honest shift
The spotlight was on Scott Brown in the away dug out but the former Celtic skipper cuts a different figure as a boss than the snarling midfielder that loved the heat of battle. Brown was a composed onlooker for the most part here - other than shortly after the interval when Willie Collum decided not to flash a second yellow card at Fabio Silva. Brown was certain the frontman’s challenge on George Stanger deserved a second booking. And his protests eventually led to a yellow being flashed in his direction - certainly not his first in these parts. Brown responded with a smile and thumbs-up to the ref.
On the pitch his side put in an impressive shift without ever really looking like pulling off a shock after the early opener. Backed by an impressive 1700 travelling Honest Men they competed ferociously - would you expect anything else from a Brown side? They were compact, worked their socks off and created some decent scoring opportunities on the break. Ben Dempsey could and probably should have levelled shortly after the break.
Ayr sit sixth in the Championship and six points off a top four spot having fallen short in the play-offs last season. On this evidence they could well be heading for another late crack at promotion under their new management team.
Collum watch
Talking of spotlights.. whatever you think about Rangers’ decision to ask the SFA to take Willie Collum off their games after the Old Firm fall out, there was absolutely no doubt the referee was under heavy pressure coming into this tie, his first Gers game since the derby rammy. He was always going to be a talking point. Philippe Clement had done his part to calm the tension in the pre-match press conference by calling for everyone to move on. Would the fans be so cordial? It took just two minutes for the four corners of Ibrox to warm their vocal chords at Collum’s expense. It looked like it could be a long afternoon for the official at that point. Thankfully, thereafter the abuse returned to regular football levels - ie after every 50/50 decision.
His biggest call - not to hand Fabio Silva a second booking for catching Stanger- was the only real controversial decision of the game. That might have appeased the home support but it had Brown flapping his arms furiously on the touchline and Collum’s decision to flash yellow at the Ayr boss almost made the referee popular.
Other than that Collum was bang on in booking Silva for a late challenge in the first half and also waving away Rangers’ shouts for an early penalty after Logan Chalmers challenged Cortes. In the end it was as comfortable an afternoon as the veteran ref could have hoped for with four bookings in total. Will that be the end of the matter now?