M3NTAL
Banned
The sheer capriciousness of football was demonstrated by this extraordinary Scottish Communities League Cup tie which saw the holders, Rangers – glutted with praise after beating Celtic on Sunday – fall behind to two second-half goals for Falkirk by Farid El Alagui, then fight back to draw level with goals from Doran Goian and Nikica Jelavic only to be skewered by an injury-time free-kick from Mark Millar that skipped down off the crossbar to put the Bairns into the quarter-finals.
Ally McCoist – who enjoyed many a productive outing in this tournament as a player – said before this match that his exploits amounted to no more than ‘fish and chip paper’ in respect of what bearing they could have upon this match. The Rangers manager presumably thought that there was no need to remind his squad that Sunday’s rousing victory in the first Old Firm derby of the season should be included in the detritus.
He had made four changes to the side that beat Celtic but, given the calibre of the opposition, Rangers could scarcely be though to have fielded a weakened side. Allan McGregor was replaced by Neil Alexander. Lee McCulloch, Alejandro Bedoya and David Healy came in for Maurice Edu, Steven Naismith and Jelavic respectively.
If the intention had been to inject fresh legs and ambition into the Ibrox side, the apparent effect was to induce an unforeseen lethargy. To be sure, Falkirk’s contribution must not be overlooked.
It was entirely indicative of the first half that Falkirk had the two best chances, although one was truly bizarre.
Both came from Rhys Bennett, the first after Falkirk’s best spell of pressure had forced a corner kick 10 minutes before the break. When the ball fell to Bennett he drove hard beyond Alexander but saw the ball rebound from Gregg Wylde, stationed on the far post.
The Falkirk fans howled for a penalty kick but the shot came off Wylde’s chest. Bennett’s next contribution had the crowd gaping. When Wylde and Kyle Lafferty both went down inside the box with knocks shortly before half-time the referee allowed play to continue and Michael McGovern booted downfield.
Bennett had his back to the play but turned to receive the clearance and must have assumed the action had stopped because everyone halted to await his knocking the ball off the pitch. The defender, however, thumped it back towards his own goal and it bounced narrowly wide for a corner kick which Rangers sportingly played straight to McGovern.
If the crowd thought that was value for discussion, they were to be astounded at the course of events in the second half. Nine minutes after the restart, Rangers were caught flat footed in defence when Kieran Duffy struck a hanging cross from the right which El Alagui rose to meet with a splendid header past Alexander. The French-born striker repeated his feat, this time when Craig Sibbald delivered from the left midway through the half.
Rangers battered at the dark blue cordon around McGovern and, in a grandstand finish, hauled themselves level with powerful headers from Goian and Jelavic – but it was the Bairns faithful who went wild with delight when Millar delivered his knockout blow in the dying seconds.
Ayr claimed their second top-flight scalp in the Scottish Communities League Cup after defeating Hearts 4-1 on penalties tonight following a 1-1 stalemate at Somerset Park.
Danny Grainger and Rudi Skacel were both denied by Ayr goalkeeper Kevin Cuthbert in the shoot-out while Mark Roberts coolly slotted home the winning spot-kick for the Irn-Bru First Division side, who eliminated Inverness in the previous round.
In normal play Gareth Wardlaw equalised to cancel out Scott Robinson's 48th-minute opener for Hearts and send the tie to extra-time.
Match details
Falkirk (5-4-1): McGovern; Duffie, Bennet, Dods, Wallace, Scobbie; Wetherston (Alston 79), Fulton, Millar, Sibbald; El Alagui. Subs: Bowman (g), Alston, Fulton, Graham, Millar. Booked: Bennett, Millar, El Alagui.
Rangers (4-4-2): Alexander; Whittaker, Goian, Bocanegra, Papac; Bedoya (Naismith 59), Davis, McCulloch, Wylde; Healy (Jelavic 54), Lafferty. Subs: McGregor (g), Broadfoot, Jelavic, Naismith, Ortiz.Booked: McCulloch, Davis.
Referee: B Winter.
Falkirk 3 Rangers 2: match report - Telegraph
