Scottish League Cup: Holders Rangers meet Motherwell for place in final

Holders Rangers staged a second-half comeback to beat Motherwell and secure a Scottish League Cup final place against Celtic, with Nedim Bajrami’s late deflected strike eventually decisive.

Motherwell threatened to heap more pressure on manager Philippe Clement after a run of poor results.

Defeat at Pittodrie in midweek brought intense criticism as Rangers fell nine points behind both Celtic and Aberdeen in the Premiership table after just 10 games.

Fans demanded a reaction and, while Rangers had the better of the opening stages, they fell behind when former Ibrox midfielder Andy Halliday stretched to volley past Jack Butland after Jefte misread Steve Seddon’s wonderful cross from the left.

Halliday’s celebrations were muted against his former side as everyone else in claret and amber went wild at the prospect of a famous win.

They initially held firm as Rangers failed to mount the sort of onslaught you might expect. Connor Barron went close from outside the box but the intense boos that greeted Nick Walsh’s half-time whistle spoke volumes.

The second-half turnaround was as swift as it was needed for Rangers. Cyriel Dessers, who earlier missed a close-range sitter, changed the game when he clipped home Barron’s centre to end his run of eight games without a goal.

From there, Rangers took a grip, showing more intensity and creativity to forge out clear chances.

Jefte was superbly denied by Aston Oxborough, who diverted the Brazilian’s volley on to the post. James Tavernier blazed over, Bajrami could not covert from close range and Oxborough again brilliantly denied Vaclav Cerny as Motherwell defended for their lives.

But after good work from Cerny on the right, Bajrami’s deflected effort deceived Oxborough as Clement’s side did enough to avoid another damaging result.

There was still time for the influential Cerny to strike an upright as Rangers saw out a much-needed win ahead of their return to Europa League action this week.