Andy Halliday names Rangers star who 'made big difference' in Motherwell turnaround as one Philippe Clement decision lauded
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Andy Halliday was given the freedom of Hampden to open the scoring for Motherwell in last weekend’s Premier Sports Cup semi-final.
Rangers left-back Jefte was criticised for “embarrassing” defending for the goal but he was let off the hook by Cyriel Dessers and then Nedim Bajrami whose goals would win the tie in the end.
That came after Halliday had claimed the Steelmen had controlled the first-half of the action despite the statistics telling a different story.
The former Ibrox midfielder did credit manager Philippe Clement for making important substitutions at the right moments for his side at Hampden and he noted one star in particular who made a “big difference”.
For Halliday it was all about Mohamed Diomande on the day.
The Ivorian, 23, replaced Tom Lawrence on 35 minutes and swarmed all over the Motherwell players to make things more difficult for Halliday and co. as they attempted to shut him down.
His workrate and intelligence in picking up the right positions while also sacrificing his own talents at times for unselfish runs was one element of his game that was praised by his opponent.
And that was one of the vital differences in the fixture as Halliday believes Clement’s quick-thinking with important subs like Diomande made the difference on what was a difficult afternoon.
“I thought we were very comfortable in the first-half, we restricted Rangers to very little and we managed to play through the thirds quite well as well,” Halliday said on Clyde One Super Scoreboard.
Halliday believes Mohamed Diomande changed the game for Rangers
“Rangers done the old tactical fouls at times to stop us counter-attack. I felt we were a wee bit disappointed over the piece with how much we actually created in the final third ourselves, but I felt we restricted Rangers to very little in the first-half.
“I thought Philippe Clement’s subs made a difference in the game, whether that be the timing of it because I do think for the majority of the second-half they played with a lot more energy and inventiveness.
“I thought Diomande for me made a big difference, especially playing up against him in the middle of the pitch.
Rangers face Celtic in the Premier Sports Cup Final after their win over Motherwell
“At times I think Tom Lawrence wants the ball to feet all the time and stay in that pocket but Diomande drags you places you don’t want to go.
“He made a lot of sacrificial runs in behind and pulled out wide, made it a lot more difficult to get close to him but the likes of Danilo and Sterling also added energy to the game as well.”
Halliday created some controversy outside of the 90 minutes after he scored the goal and refused to celebrate.
But the former Gers man insisted the criticism has been “embarrassing”.
Celtic lie in wait in next month’s Premier Sports Cup Final after they went through in their semi.
