The match winner stated that he was glad to do his part for the under-fire manager
Nedim Bajrami dropped on his knees to celebrate his Hampden victory.
His goal may have taken Philippe Clement and his squad out of a precarious situation. The Albanian’s strike to hold off a Motherwell team that looked poised to defeat Rangers at halftime was unquestionably the most important goal of Bejrami’s brief stint in Scotland.
But for Clement, the 81st-minute winner was arguably more significant. Under increasing pressure after falling nine points behind Celtic and Aberdeen in the league and with his team struggling to show any signs of improvement, the Belgian walked down the tunnel at halftime, surely knowing the deafening boos from his fans meant he had 45 minutes to save his job. Cyriel Dessers levelled the score in the 49th minute. But it was Bajrami’s strike nine minutes later, when he strode onto Vaclav Cerny’s perfect pass before rattling an angle drive past Aston Oxborough, that made Clement breathe a huge sigh of relief.
And the match winner said he was glad to help the under-fire manager, who is now just 90 minutes away from defending the trophy he won only two months after arriving at Ibrox last year. Bajrami stated, “We are always behind the manager; we fight for him, for every game, for us, for our fans, and we try to do our best in each game, step by step.
“When clubs like Motherwell score, you have to be resolute and not give up on the second goal, and we demonstrated our quality in the second half. Our front line and defense were both excellent, as they failed to score the second goal and we prevailed. This was essential to us. I’m always glad to score and aid the team, not just for myself but also for the manager. We have the same pressure in every game, regardless of whether we play in the league or the Europa League.
“Rangers are always under pressure, and we want to win every game. I don’t read much about this, the pressure, so we just concentrate on our games. Take it one game at a time; we have a lot of games, and there isn’t much outside of the pitch that I think about.
“I think the important thing is to create chances, then maybe in the last 30 metres we have to be more concrete, to score even more goals, and to close the goal, or the game earlier.” Cerny’s cross-field assist, as well as the deflected finish, were key to Bajrami’s goal.
The Czech winger, who missed Wednesday night’s crushing defeat at Aberdeen, returned to the starting lineup and delivered a man-of-the-match performance at Hampden. And Bajrami, who is now looking forward to his first cup final, said: “He has good qualities, we have a good chemistry on the pitch, and there were some wonderful assists today. We know it’s a semi-final, we won the game, good second half, nice goals
“Sometimes you play well, sometimes you don’t, but the main thing is to win the game. We scored two goals in the second half, believed for 90 minutes, and demonstrated our abilities tonight. I’ve never won a cup; perhaps now is the time. I’ve never even played in a cup final. It’s a special game, but it’s far away, so we still have time; as I previously stated, we must think game by game.
Jack Butland remained a spectator for the majority of the 96 minutes. However, after being beaten by Andy Halliday for Well’s first-half goal, the keeper was seen having a lengthy and furious debate with captain James Tavernier. And the Ibrox manager stated, “Many individuals talked, and there is a genuine desire to alter things and do better. We needed to improve our goal-scoring situation in the first half, but we produced numerous opportunities.
“We must remove the instances that make life difficult for ourselves. But it was about sticking together, pounding on the door, and trying again. At this club, you can’t give up; the group’s message is to keep pushing
“We must ensure that when we experience disappointment, we recover fast. It was a major win for us today, and we need to take advantage of it. That’s what this club is all about: getting results. Performance needs to improve, and we know we need to set higher goals since we haven’t been as excellent as we could be. That is unavoidable, but we must persevere and maintain our resilience.”
Clement believes his players were worried at halftime, with pressure mounting from the supporters after falling down to Andy Halliday’s 25th-minute goal. However, the boss claims that the experience of fighting back in those difficult times will help his players grow as a team. Clement stated, “They need to go through these experiences to grow as individuals and players. And that is why events like today are so crucial.
“That kids live this and realize that hard work, digging in, staying together, and remaining positive will result in a reward at the end. Maybe not every time, but there will be many more times than we have now.”
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