Something majorly unpredictable happened in Rangers game and it had hee haw to do with Brown or Collum – Ibrox analysis

A controversial call from ref Wille Collum. And Scott Brown copping a yellow card at Ibrox.

It turns out the most unpredictable thing about this Scottish Cup tie was just how uncomfortable Ayr United made it for Rangers. The Championship side were expected to be steam-rolled by Philippe Clement’s in-form outfit in Glasgow. But even though Brown’s men were knocked out by goals from Borna Barisic and Fabio Silva they were by no means disgraced in this fifth-round clash.

And if Collum had given the Portuguese striker a second yellow card for a rash challenge, it might have been a different outcome for the Honest Men. It was difficult to know who was more unwelcome in Govan between the ref and Ayr’s gaffer who played pantomime villains. All Clement cared about was progression to the quarter-final as Rangers chase a Treble. But his team’s below-par performance is a warning to supporters that the Belgian still has work to do, despite their recent resurgence. The big plus for Gers was new Colombian winger Oscar Cortes, who arrived on loan from Lens in the transfer window.

The 20-year-old was superb for an hour, causing Ayr a pile of problems from the left flank before eventually being hooked. And Silva grabbed another goal for the club after his strike against Livingston earlier this month. The frontman admits he’s enjoying his free role in the Gers attack and is getting used to the physical Scottish game. He said: “Sometimes these ties can be difficult. For these teams maybe it’s the game of their lives. The coach told us to be aware because it’s a competition we want to win. So we had to do everything in our hands to get the victory.”

Silva was delighted to get on the scoresheet again and praised his team-mates for helping