It’s October 2017 and Rangers fans are heading to Hampden to watch Pedro Caixinha’s side play Motherwell in a League Cup semi-final.
The Portuguese manager was under increasing pressure after a rocky start to his controversial Ibrox tenure with a place in the ‘Betfred Cup’ Final up for grabs.
Only victory will guarantee Pedro Caixinha his job as the scrutiny on a stuttering start to the 17/18 season and a number of failed signings ramps up.
Ultimately, it would be a 2-0 defeat to the Steelmen on 23rd October which would cost Caixinha his job only three days later.
Seven years on, Rangers will have the chance to exact some revenge in the rebranded Premier Sports Cup.
It comes after Rangers drew Motherwell in the semi-final of this season’s tournament.
Motherwell v Rangers repeat seven years in making
Rangers fans will still have some scar tissue from that League Cup semi-final defeat to Motherwell all those years ago.
Caixinha’s lacklustre Gers side were overpowered by Motherwell, with Portuguese defender Fabio Cardoso famously going off with a broken nose.
Motherwell captain Peter Hartley then courted controversy by saying that it was ‘fun’ to watch Cardoso ‘weeping’ after a brutal elbow by Ryan Bowman, who somehow evaded a red card.
The defender was then forced to apologise.
Both Rangers manager Caixinha and Motherwell boss Steven Robinson were sent to the stands in the aftermath of the incident.
The match was also won by Motherwell striker Louis Moult, who netted a deadly double to down the Bears 2-0 at Hampden in a controversial clash at the national stadium.
For the first, Moult fired the ball into the roof of the net as it ricocheted around following a corner whilst the second was a deft long-range chip which is etched into the minds of Motherwell supporters.
Rangers set to defend League Cup crown
Interestingly, Motherwell overcame Louis Moult’s Dundee United side to book their place at Hampden, Rangers-linked Lennon Miller the injury-time hero at Fir Park.
The Scotland U21 international popped up to net a late winner after Louis Moult had equalised against his former side following Zach Robinson’s opening goal on the stroke of halftime.
Rangers progressed to the semi-finals courtesy of a 3-0 win over Dundee at Ibrox with striker Cyriel Dessers the hero on the day.
The big Nigerian international netted a double to bring his tally to seven for the season whilst Dessers also won a penalty which was duly dispatched by James Tavernier.
Rangers – who are the current holders of the competition – will now face off against Motherwell with that infamous semi-final of seven years ago still fresh in the memory.
Celtic, who twice came from behind to defeat Championship Falkirk, will face on-form Aberdeen, who comfortably defeated Spartans, in the other semi-final.
