Rangers advanced to the quarter-finals of the Scottish Gas Men’s Scottish Cup with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Ayr United at Ibrox this evening.
Borna Barisic put the hosts in front after 10 minutes when his effort from the edge of the area was deflected into the net by Roy Syla.
Fabio Silva then added Rangers’ second of the evening and his second in Rangers colours with 14 minutes to go to secure their spot in tomorrow’s draw.
There was no cup shock for Ayr United boss Scott Brown on his return to Ibrox Stadium as Philippe Clement made it 20 wins out of 24 matches as Rangers manager.
The Belgian is keeping quiet about the possibility of a domestic treble but is encouraging fans to dream big. He said:
“They have the right to dream because they are fans. They can dream and it’s important to dream also in life.
“I want one thing and that’s that my players are focused on the next game, just that. You can dream in the beginning of the season but as a player, as a manager, member of staff you need to be in the story in that moment.
“That’s the nice thing to be a fan that you can do those things.
“I hope that they can dream about a lot because I love also the passion they have now, how they are behind the team, how they are helping the team also through difficult moments.
“They dream about those things, they are going to help the team even more in the next couple of months.”
However, Ayr United manager and former Celtic captain Scott Brown thought that goalscorer Fabio Silva should have been sent off for a second bookable offence. He said:
“The second goal, the man probably shouldn’t be on the park. It was a big decision, a pressure decision and it probably wasn’t the right decision.
“Pressure is a key thing in football and we dealt with the pressure really well…
“I knew he never getting sent off if I’m being honest, it was never going to be a red card. If it was the other way round it could’ve been.
“The pressure is hard. Some people can deal with it, some people can’t.”
