Nick Montgomery was pleased to report Martin Boyle is stable in hospital after injury curtailed his part in nine-man Hibernian’s 2-0 Scottish Gas Scottish Cup defeat by Rangers at Easter Road.
Midfielder John Lundstram bundled in the opener in the 23rd minute after goalkeeper David Marshall had saved a penalty from captain James Tavernier before Boyle was taken away on a stretcher after landing following a duel with defender John Souttar.
Hibs defender Jordan Obita was sent off in the 68th minute for picking up the second of two yellow cards for using an arm to stop substitute Rabbi Matondo before Nathan Moriah-Welsh was shown a straight red by referee Steven McLean three minutes later for a two-footed challenge on Lundstram.
Striker Fabio Silva added a second as Rangers joined Aberdeen and Celtic in the semi-final draw, with Championship side Morton hosting Hearts on Monday night.
Hibs boss Montgomery gave a positive post-match update on Boyle, saying: “I’ve just had a report that Martin is stable and that’s the most important thing.
“Football is just a game and while Martin’s an important player for us, he’s a human being too.
“I think it’s a bit of concussion and maybe a little bit of neck pain. Fingers crossed he makes a speedy recovery because he was in a bit of pain.”
Montgomery was unimpressed with Lundstram’s reaction to Moriah-Welsh’s tackle.
He said: “I haven’t seen Jordan’s incident to be honest. I know he was on a yellow. He tried to hold Matondo off but apparently he’s caught him on the back of the head with his arm.
“Jordan is an experienced player so, if he has done something that is deemed a yellow card, you don’t want that.
“Nathan is just 21 years old, he’s new to first-team football. And, to be honest, it was right in front of me.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for John Lundstram. He’s a top, top player. But I thought the way he went down, Nathan didn’t catch him.
“I’ve seen that one back and he’s gone across him to try to block him playing a ball down the line, probably knock it out for a throw-in. But John has gone down.
“And the referee was very quick to give the card. To be honest, I was really surprised he didn’t go to the VAR monitor to have a look, considering it was three metres from where the incident happened.”
Rangers boss Philippe Clement called for “reckless” tackles to be taken out of the game as he discussed Moriah-Welsh’s red card.
He said: “If you put a hand or an arm in the face you can get a yellow, that everybody knows.
“The (Moriah-Welsh) tackle was a few yards away from me. It is a reckless tackle with the studs in front and it doesn’t matter then if you break a leg or not.
“It is just reckless. I think it is important to get that kind of tackle out of the game.
“In the last couple of weeks sometimes when we didn’t get the red card and I was not happy about that.
“I think tackles like that are not good for Scottish football, English football, Belgian football, German football. Players need to know if you tackle like that you get a red card.
“It is for nobody good because it is a danger to injure someone if you go in like that.”
The Belgian was frustrated with Dujon Sterling and his replacement Ross McCausland having to come off and both will be assessed ahead of Thursday night’s Europa League last-16 game against Benfica at Ibrox, with the tie balanced at 2-2 following last week’s game in Lisbon.
Ryan Jack, Abdallah Sima, Oscar Cortes, Kieran Dowell and Danilo are also carrying injuries.
Clement said: “I am not happy, of course, that Dujon and Ross had to come off. It is not a good thing.
“We are going to see in the next couple of days if they are going to be available for Thursday or not.”
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
