Rangers boss Steven Gerrard left bemused by reaction of Alfredo Morelos to being substituted in 4-0 win over Aberdeen

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has questioned the body language of Alfredo Morelos after the striker’s petulant response to being replaced by Jermain Defoe midway through the second half of Sunday’s comprehensive victory against Aberdeen at Ibrox.
Steven Gerrard looks on as his Rangers side defeat Aberdeen 4-0 to open up an 11-point lead at the top of the Premiership table. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group)Steven Gerrard looks on as his Rangers side defeat Aberdeen 4-0 to open up an 11-point lead at the top of the Premiership table. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group)
Steven Gerrard looks on as his Rangers side defeat Aberdeen 4-0 to open up an 11-point lead at the top of the Premiership table. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group)

Morelos trudged off the pitch slowly with his head down before pulling off his gloves and throwing them away angrily in the technical area. Gerrard ignored his player’s actions at the time but later expressed his confusion at Morelos’ display of displeasure.

When it was put to him that Morelos didn’t look happy, Gerrard replied: “Is he ever? I can’t work it out. We are 4-0 up at the time, we’ve played well and Alfredo has played well. His team-mate is about to come on and we have a big game against Benfica on Thursday. So, I don’t know – you’ll have to ask Alfredo why he was a bit sad. I was really happy.”

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Gerrard hailed what he described as an ‘incredible’ display from his team as goals from Ryan Kent, Kemar Roofe, Scott Arfield and James Tavernier moved them 11 points clear of Celtic at the top of the Premiership table, having played two games more than the defending champions.

"We won the game comfortably and were dominant throughout,” said Gerrard. “We could have scored even more goals. It was another clean sheet as well so there were a lot of positives.

"With the international break, you have players here, there and everywhere. As a manager, you are wondering whether the rhythm of your team is going to be affected but we came out of the blocks really strong. We played some incredible stuff again. Some of our movement in the final third was exceptional. We are showing that relentlessness and really executing when we get in the right places.

"So I don’t think anyone could complain about the result. It could have been more emphatic. We were strong from start to finish and I managed to make five changes and look after people who have been doing a lot of travel.

“I look at the league table every time we play, I’m not going to deny that. But I’ve never known a manager to get carried away in November. We still have a lot of big hurdles to get over.”

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