For a very long time, Sunday’s Viaplay Cup semi-final between Rangers and Aberdeen in all its ghoulish fascination looked like something David Cronenberg or David Lynch or someone else from Hollywood’s directorial odditory would have produced – a crazy, psychedelic trip to the dark side.
It was 1-1 and it was scrappy like mudwrestling is scrappy. On land carved out by biblical rains the day before and more conducive to a national plowing championship than a major football semi-final, it was a battle.
There was massive engagement and suffocating congestion, there were raw nerves and bodies on the ground, there were thuds and blunders, kicks and rushes, chaos of all kinds. Minute by endless minute, it was played at breakneck speed. Oxygen masks might have been ready. And that was just for the fans.
With seven minutes remaining in regulation, Anthony Stewart rammed a clearance into the head of teammate Ylber Ramadani and nearly knocked him out. Borna Barisic shot Matty Kennedy and was warned. A furious Kennedy pulled Barisic out a minute later and was warned. Punishment and aggravation and stalemate. The hitter’s slugathon. Mayhem.
But that was really just the prelude to the piece de resistance of bonkerdom, the moment Stewart, Pittodrie’s respected captain and backstage leader, hammered a tackle on Fashion Sakala that sent Rangers so high into the sky. . it was as if he had bounced on a trampoline.
Stewart had a look of innocence but there was no debate – red card. Manager Jim Goodwin may have to rethink the leadership of his team.
This was the turning point. The captain’s unnecessary action opened the door for Rangers and Michael Beale’s side managed to get through. Only. Beale is a smart cookie and went on to talk about wanting to sign two or three starters, rather than bench fillers – in the January window. He needs it. His team lacks intelligence, but not heart. They rejected this one. Making the final against Celtic is all that mattered. How they handled that was irrelevant at all.
Rangers have had to navigate tough situations during Beale’s brief spell as manager – a win from behind against Hibs at Ibrox, another against Aberdeen at Pittodrie and yet another against the Dons at Hampden. They are now in the final with Celtic, a tantalizing prospect that carries with it the usual dread of cringe things that some of these fans sing about in their dreary expression of identity and support. We heard it on Saturday and we heard it again on Sunday. Mortifying.
Before and after Stewart walked, Aberdeen was brave as hell. They woke up and created dangerous moments late, even though all 10 men looked on their feet. Such was the bizarre sweep of the game, there was a brief VAR malfunction – an uncomfortable moment for football authorities seized with glee from both ends of the stadium. They laughed when he came down and laughed again when he came back.
The last laugh belonged to Kemar Roofe. To Scott Wright too, but especially to Roofe. Wright, one of Beale’s substitutes, went to jump down the left and slid a ball into Roofe, another of Beale’s substitutes, and Roofe did what Alfredo Morelos failed to do when chances fell to him earlier.
It was a quick and natural finish from a player horribly plagued by injuries. It was only his fourth appearance of the season. His total minutes on the pitch was 38. The last time he scored a goal was in April, an extra-time winner – to sit with that extra-time winner – in a Europa League draw against Braga at Ibrox.
Roofe has been through the horrors. A while ago, he took to social media to post a photo of himself in a hyperbaric chamber. It was obvious what his winner on Sunday meant to him, but no one saw the rest – the weeks and months of pain, the uncertainty that may have filled his lonely journeys to and from rehab. , a daily routine that only he and those closest to him will know.
He had been gone for so long he was almost a forgotten man, the reliability of his goalscoring in Rangers’ Premiership-winning season two years ago was lost amid endless discussion over who should be ahead for the club – Morelos or Antonio Colak. There is a third way and Roofe reminded his manager of that.
Considering the drama, there must have been an injured hero. As it happened, that injured hero had to be Roofe, who collapsed in the 112th minute and lay motionless on the deck for a worrying amount of time. His left arm was the problem. Beale said it wasn’t a dislocation and he shouldn’t be out for long, but he’s awaiting the results of the scan. Beale said the striker ‘can’t take a break’.
What Beale decides to do about Morelos will be intriguing in the months to come. A new contract for a less prolific player than before? Could Beale find a better home for the vast salary, in Scottish terms, that Morelos will receive? Morelos had a few chances in the semis and didn’t take any either. Roofe had one and scored. Back in the team, a relatively wet week and he came with the biggest goal of Beale’s spell so far.
What will Rangers look like when the final takes place at the end of February? Different, but how different? Beale wants his team to have a new look, that’s for sure. He will have a few more walking injuries by then and, if he gets his way, new fronts to fight against Celtic. He says his team is still a work in progress and he’s right. The progress, however, is undeniable.
