You may have missed it last night, but Alfredo Morelos is suspended for the Betfred Cup semi-final against Aberdeen.
A 4-0 hammering of Ayr United at Ibrox set up the semi at Hampden next month. Aberdeen’s win over Hibernian on Tuesday night saw them as the first team through this week.
Yet, a silly booking for Morelos against United for dissent has ruled him out of the Hampden clash. It’s a big blow considering Morelos would’ve been looking to avenge his red card at Pittodrie. The Colombian scored against Aberdeen last season, but has never scored at Hampden.
Despite the positives in Morelos’ game, his anger just has a habit of coming back to bite him. It’s tricky to criticise a player for receiving a yellow card, but it’s disappointing regardless.
Morelos notched a goal last night in the 4-0 win against Ayr, firing Steven Gerrard’s men 3-0 ahead on the night.
The automatic choice to come in instead of the forward would’ve been Kyle Lafferty. The big Northern Irishman never feautured at all in the win over Ayr, and this was down to him being cup-tied
Any alternatives?
Lafferty has made a strong start to life back at Ibrox. A brace against Motherwell was followed up by a crucial equaliser in Villarreal. Another goal against St Johnstone at the weekend has him flying in his early days back at Rangers.
Losing Morelos and putting in Lafferty wouldn’t have done too much harm to the side. Lafferty is a more than capable striker and showed how effective he is in Spain. It’s all dependant on what mood the forward is in, but he would’ve been up for the challenge.
Instead, Gerrard only has Umar Sadiq available for selection. Whether he genuinely feels he can go with the forward against Aberdeen, however, is extremely doubful.
In the end, it’s just another lesson for Morelos. Suspensions continue to rack up for him and it has a negative effect on the team. Whether he’ll ever truly get rid of that side of his game is an interesting thought.
It’s a disappointing blow for Rangers, and Gerrard is going to have to find a way through the contest with Aberdeen with a new solution.
