Before I go … there have been three red cards at the end! Moshni, Erwin and Kerr have all been shown reds. Amazing scenes. Entirely unacceptable of course but, I guess, it shows how much they care. “I’m drained but so pleased for everyone at the club,” Baraclough says. “It’s been a tough, tough season for us.”
Anyway, Motherwell’s players are back on the pitch with their kids to celebrate. A slightly brighter note to end on.
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The Motherwell players are expected to come out to celebrate the retention of their top flight status now things have calmed down, which is a good time for me to bid farewell. Congratulations to Ian Baraclough and his team, commiserations to Stuart McCall and Rangers. Thanks for reading. Bye!
Steven McManus, talking to BT, says: “Emotions were running high. It was important we tried to be professional, kept cool. We deserved it over the two legs.”
Stephen Pearson: “We’re disappointed with what happened at the end. I think Moshni has kicked and then punched Lee Erwin. I’m sure it will be picked up on TV and the right action will be taken.
There are police horses on the pitch to direct the Motherwell fans into their seats now. Just watching a replay of the incident again and it appears Erwin went to shake his hand, Moshni refused to and kicked and punched him instead. There was certainly blood coming from Erwin’s mouth. A disappointing end to it all.
Oh! Unfortunately, it has all kicked off at the end. Bilel Mohsni has just thrown a nasty punch at Erwin after the Motherwell player shoved him following an exchange of words. Mohsni is led down the tunnel by a Rangers official, while Erwin leaves the pitch apparently bloodied after taking a boot to the rear end and what looks to be a punch to the face. Now there’s a pitch invasion and a lot of Motherwell fans are off goading the Rangers support.
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FULL-TIME! Motherwell 3-0 Rangers (Motherwell win 6-1 on agg)
That’s the final act!
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PENALTY! Motherwell 3-0 Rangers (Sutton) (6-1 agg)
90 min + 2: Erwin zooms down the left, cuts in and is taken down by Wallace. Sutton steps up to take and calmly side foots it to Bell’s left after the keeper committed early to diving right.
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90 min: There will be two minutes added on. And the home support are back to twisting and shouting.
89 min: Into the final minute. Murdoch has a long-range punt well saved by Bell.
85 min: Rangers have thrown in the towel now. Vuckic drives into the box and under pressure from Laing goes down too easily and the ball runs out of play for a goal-kick. There are 9,220 inside Fir Park – the highest attendance at the ground this season but far from sold out having restricted Rangers’ allocation.
83 min: Final change for the home side – Ramsden replaces the influential Johnson, who hobbles off clutching his lower back.
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81 min: Foster booked for a frustrated kick at Johnson.
79 min: Good save by Bell to deny Sutton. Erwin drives forward and passes to Johnson who gives it back to the Motherwell striker. He works it to the substitute Sutton after his initial attempt is blocked and Bell saves his low strike.
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77 min: Ainsworth is replaced by Sutton and when play restarts yet another long ball forward from Rangers is overhit and ends up going out for a corner.
76 min: The game has, as you would expect, lost its intensity now. Motherwell fans going for ‘let’s go fucking mental’ at the moment. Prefer Twist and Shout, personally.
73 min: Pearson, who had that hamstring injury before kick-off, is off to a standing ovation. Grant replaces him for the final celebratory minutes. Rangers fans are heading for the exit.
GOAL! Motherwell 2-0 Rangers ( ) (5-1 agg)
70 min: Rangers committed too many forward, allowing Johnson to race down the right flank under little pressure. He cuts in, sees Ainsworth free to his right. The winger steadies and finds the net via another Zaliukas deflection. Au revoir!
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66 min: Erwin breaks but is denied advancing into a goalscoring position by Zaliukas. Then Rangers immediately go on the attack, where Vuckic shoots from 25 yards and Long saves.
64 min: Vuckic crosses from the right and Clarke is on hand for what should be a tap-in from six yards out but he fresh airs it. Sometimes it’s just not your day.
63 min: Rare second half chance from Rangers as McCulloch acrobatically sends a Vuckic corner over the bar.
60 min: McCulloch is taken down by Erwin. But Ainsworth’s free-kick is overhit and the crestfallen Bell collects.
59 min: Clarke replaces Boyd for Rangers’ second change. Their inability to convert their early dominance into a goal has proven costly.
58 min: Back on the pitch, Rangers continue to send it long and each time it’s cleared up by Motherwell’s dominant defence.
57 min: Fir Park, with the exception of the 1,500 Rangers fans behind one goal, is currently bouncing to this. And it’s quite the sight.
55 min: Walsh is on for Ferguson but unless he can inspire three goals in the remaining 35 minutes, Rangers will be staying in the Scottish Championship next season.
GOAL! Motherwell 1-0 Rangers (Bell OG) (4-1 on agg)
52 min: Johnson dribbles past three Rangers defenders and shoots from 25 yards. It’s heavily deflected by Zaliukas and as the ball loops into the air, Bell gets his feet all mixed up and somehow punches it into his own net. Oh dear.
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50 min: McDonald goes into the book for a mist-timed tackle on Vuckic deep inside the Rangers half.
49 min: Lots of long balls! Foster collects a long punt from Hammell but is robbed by Johnson near the end-line only for the defender to recover and concede a corner which is cleared.
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47 min: Foster leaves a pass to Bell short and Erwin is close to getting in and intercepting. A lucky escape.
Peep!
46 min: McDonald and Pearson restart. And the sun is out!
Pay no notice to the possession wheel on the left of this screen – sometimes it refuses to work. Rangers actually had 64% of the ball in the opening period.
HALF-TIME! Motherwell 0-0 Rangers
Low on quality but the hosts will be more than pleased in a half where they had the better chances but not too much of the ball.
45 min +2: Vuckic crosses from the left to Boyd, who heads wide.
44 min: Motherwell win another corner but it’s cleared as far as Lasley who hooks it back into Bell’s hands. Two minutes to be added on.
42 min: Rangers back on the attack. Boyd passes to Miller between the legs of Hammell but the former’s strike is deflected for a corner. Ferguson’s delivery is headed across his own goal by Lasley. Zaliukas is first to it but he cannot find the target and puts his head in his hands.
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40 min: Now McCulloch, who spent six years at Motherwell, is booked for his part in a 50/50 with McDonald. Having viewed the replay, that looked harsh. When play restarts the ball falls to Johnson on the edge of the area, fed by McDonald, but he is unable to find the target with a low, left-footed curler.
38 min: Vuckic elegantly works his way into a shooting position but is taken down by McManus. It should be a free-kick – even if the contact was slight – but the Rangers player is instead booked for diving.
35 min: Motherwell enjoying their best spell now as the heavens open. Johnson sends in a free-kick from the left, McManus evades Zaliukas, but he cannot direct his header on target.
34 min: Oh dear, one Motherwell fan has made an absolute fool of himself here. The ball goes out for a throw-in, McCulloch comes over to collect it and the supporter swings a flag into the defender’s face as he picks the ball up.
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33 min: Off the ball Zaliukas has appeared to elbow Pearson but the referee has not seen it. If he did, he would have been sent off.
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32 min: Motherwell’s first chance! They break through Ainsworth on the right and he sends a low cross to McDonald but Foster is on hand to put it out for a corner.
31 min: No matter, Rangers continue to pick up the second ball and when it’s sent back into the box, via some non-descript scrappiness, McCulloch fouls McManus and Motherwell have a free out.
30 min: It is taken by Ferguson but is too deep.
29 min: Ferguson wins a throw-in near the corner flag off Law. Wallace throws long again but it’s half-cleared. Rangers’ Law steals the ball back on the right and wins a corner from Lasley.
27 min: It is indeed a better delivery – and lands near the penalty spot where Zaliukas is on hand to clear. But then, as the hosts recover possession, Murdoch is booked for a late challenge on Hammell on Motherwell’s left flank. He is booked for his troubles but the delivery from Ainsworth fails to threaten.
26 min: Motherwell do have a second corner. Irwin battles well down the right, has no chance of putting a cross in but smartly wins the corner off Wallace, who was marking him tightly. Let’s see if this delivery is improved …
25 min: Rangers have had little under 65% possession but have only registered two shots on target. Motherwell are yet to have an attempt – on or off target.
22 min: Miller cuts in after collecting possession on the left, he shimmies into space but cannot find the advancing Foster on his right. Goal-kick but the pressure continues to build.
21 min: Foster after a good spell of build-up play crosses from the right but Boyd is unable to get on the end of it.
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19 min: Pearson has taken Wallace out of it in a 50/50 near halfway, planting his studs on the Rangers defender’s ankle. Free-kick is given but no card.
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18 min: Miller is penalised for dragging Hammell’s shirt near the corner flag, much to the delight of the home support again. The visitors continuing to dominate possession though.
16 min: Each misplaced pass from Rangers is cheered loudly by the raucous Motherwell support. Foster, aiming to go long, has just hooked a ball out of play.
14 min: Lasley goes in late on Ferguson. Law swings the free-kick in from the left, Zaliukas connects. Long turns his effort over the bar for a corner. It’s taken by Ferguson, who sends it deep, where Laing is on hand to put it out for another corner. That one is headed wide by Boyd.
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11 min: They do have a corner though! Law drives a cross in from the right and it comes off Zaliukas’s chest at point blank range. He’s winded. Johnson comes across to take the corner but it’s overhit by several yards and rolls out on the opposite side of the pitch.
10 min: Motherwell are deliberately sitting back here, letting Rangers have the ball. I don’t think they have managed more than four consecutive passes yet. Although Law almost manages that with a long ball forward towards Ainsworth by Zaliukas comes across to intercept.
8 min: Vuckic delivers a deep free-kick in. Long is out to claim but then hooks his kick-out into touch. Sloppy but it appears to be quite windy at Fir Park.
7 min: Another long ball forward by Rangers is mistimed by Laing, who heads it backwards. Boyd takes possession but mishits his own attempt and it flies wide. Should have done better.
5 min: Motherwell do not really need to force it too much and are sitting back quite a bit but they should not allow Rangers to build this much pressure. Wallace flings a long throw in, it’s flicked on by Ferguson. That causes havoc but no blue shirt is on hand to add the final touch and Hammell hooks clear three yards from his own goal.
3 min: This is a good start from Rangers. Ferguson fizzes in a cross from the left, Boyd rises at the back stick but his header is well saved by Long.
1 min: Laing fouls Boyd 30 yards from goal after 15 seconds but a convoluted routine ends with Lasley blocking a Boyd shot for a throw-in.
Peep!
1 min: Here we go! Boyd and Miller get us underway, playing from right to left as we watch it.
Here come the teams.
McCall speaks! “We know we need to score a couple at least. We’ve got to be careful, it’s not all guns blazing at the beginning but we have goalscorers on the park. I believe we can win the game but if we can win it enough, we’ll see.”
Baraclough said Pearson will start! “Pleased we can name the same starting XI as the first leg,” he said. “We can’t sit back … they’ll throw everything at us. We have got to be ready for every eventuality.” He also said he expects an early onslaught from the visitors.
Stephen Pearson has been named in the Motherwell starting XI but has complained about his hamstring in the warm up and had gone down the tunnel for treatment. Gordon Strachan, speaking to BT, says he should not play because “his biggest asset is running”.
The cast
Motherwell: Long, Hammell, McManus, Ainsworth, Lasley, Law, Erwin, Johnson, Laing, Pearson, McDonald. Subs: Twardzik, Ramsden, Sutton, Kerr, Moore, Watt, Grant.
Rangers: Bell; Foster, McCulloch, Zaliukas, Wallace; Law, Vuckic, Murdoch, Ferguson; Boyd, Miller. Subs: Simonsen, Smith, Mohsni, Clark, Crawford, Shiels, Walsh.
And you thought football was finished for the season! Welcome to coverage of this afternoon’s Scottish Premiership play-off final second leg (bit of a mouthful, right?).
Motherwell lead 3-1 after Thursday’s first leg in Ibrox and it will take something special from Stuart McCall’s side to leave Fir Park with promotion in their grasp. They were outsmarted for much of that game and could not deal with the pace of Motherwell on the counterattack.
Lee Erwin and Stephen McManus scored in the first half before Lionel Ainsworth added a third early in the second period and although Rangers finished strongly – and were rewarded by a tie-saving goal from Darren McGregor nine minutes from time – they may have left themselves too much to do here. One thing is for sure, they cannot concede.
McGregor is suspended, Seb Faure and Gael Bigirimana remain absent for the visitors, while the hosts are concerned over Steven Hammell and Stephen Pearson. Confirmed starting line-ups to follow.
Ian Baraclough, the Motherwell manager, said it was his team’s “best performance” of the season at Ibrox but has promised his team will not get carried away this afternoon.
Here is more from Baraclough: “We have been strong at home and we have scored goals.” And this is his opposite number, McCall: “Football is all about goals.” So what do we want? Yep, goals.
Kick-off is 3pm BST.
