We bullied Rangers off the park, says Chris Cadden

Caixinha and Motherwell boss Stephen Robinson were both sent to the stands as Motherwell beat Rangers 2-0 to set up a Betfred Cup final meeting with Celtic.

The Portuguese coach reacted angrily after Fabio Cardoso was caught by Ryan Bowman's elbow and went off with a bloodied nose, with the Motherwell striker escaping a second yellow card.

Motherwell received four of the game's six bookings and Cadden relished the physical contest as Louis Moult's double sealed a famous win for the Lanarkshire side.

"I enjoy a bit of that," the wing-back said. "We set out to ruffle them up a wee bit and try and bully them, which I thought we did. They surely expected that coming.

"We've got the players to get in about their faces. That's always our game plan. We did that against Aberdeen as well. That's when we are at our best, when we are on the front foot and pressing and closing teams down."

Bowman insisted he did not mean to hurt Cardoso after earlier being booked for a similar challenge.

"It's the way I jump, I use my elbows for leverage," Bowman said. "Most strikers do that.

"I have out-jumped him but he has headered my elbows. The first one is a yellow card and the second one is one that happens in football all the time.

"It's how I jump, I haven't intended to hurt him. If the referee had blown for a free-kick I might have been off but it's one of those things."

Bowman added: "They played into our hands a bit. Me and Moulty tried to force them to play long balls and not play out from the back, and they did that. We have three big guys at the back who can head the ball all day long and they did. It worked for us."

Moult received a cut above the eye after being caught by Cardoso's arm and was kicked on the ground by Bruno Alves late on, and he felt both sides were physical.

"It was a very, very physical game and they gave as much as we gave them," said the goalscorer, who was booked along with Rangers sub Eduardo Herrera while Alves escaped a card.

"It was quite equal - look at my eye, look at their centre-half. It was a fight out there.

"I said to Bruno Alves that he kicked out at me and he agreed. I don't know whether I touched him or not. I said it was probably a yellow card for each of us and he agreed.

"The referee and his officials have got a very difficult job and I thought they did well. They probably just missed that one."

Meanwhile, Bowman relished proving the doubters wrong after Motherwell started the week as a 6-1 shot with some bookmakers.

"We were getting written off before the game had even started," he said. "A couple of their players and their manager were saying, 'We have two options: win or win'. And more fool them now.

"We proved we weren't underdogs and we played them off the park.Caixinha and Motherwell boss Stephen Robinson were both sent to the stands as Motherwell beat Rangers 2-0 to set up a Betfred Cup final meeting with Celtic.

The Portuguese coach reacted angrily after Fabio Cardoso was caught by Ryan Bowman's elbow and went off with a bloodied nose, with the Motherwell striker escaping a second yellow card.

Motherwell received four of the game's six bookings and Cadden relished the physical contest as Louis Moult's double sealed a famous win for the Lanarkshire side.

"I enjoy a bit of that," the wing-back said. "We set out to ruffle them up a wee bit and try and bully them, which I thought we did. They surely expected that coming.

"We've got the players to get in about their faces. That's always our game plan. We did that against Aberdeen as well. That's when we are at our best, when we are on the front foot and pressing and closing teams down."

Bowman insisted he did not mean to hurt Cardoso after earlier being booked for a similar challenge.

"It's the way I jump, I use my elbows for leverage," Bowman said. "Most strikers do that.

"I have out-jumped him but he has headered my elbows. The first one is a yellow card and the second one is one that happens in football all the time.

"It's how I jump, I haven't intended to hurt him. If the referee had blown for a free-kick I might have been off but it's one of those things."

Bowman added: "They played into our hands a bit. Me and Moulty tried to force them to play long balls and not play out from the back, and they did that. We have three big guys at the back who can head the ball all day long and they did. It worked for us."

Moult received a cut above the eye after being caught by Cardoso's arm and was kicked on the ground by Bruno Alves late on, and he felt both sides were physical.

"It was a very, very physical game and they gave as much as we gave them," said the goalscorer, who was booked along with Rangers sub Eduardo Herrera while Alves escaped a card.

"It was quite equal - look at my eye, look at their centre-half. It was a fight out there.

"I said to Bruno Alves that he kicked out at me and he agreed. I don't know whether I touched him or not. I said it was probably a yellow card for each of us and he agreed.

"The referee and his officials have got a very difficult job and I thought they did well. They probably just missed that one."

Meanwhile, Bowman relished proving the doubters wrong after Motherwell started the week as a 6-1 shot with some bookmakers.

"We were getting written off before the game had even started," he said. "A couple of their players and their manager were saying, 'We have two options: win or win'. And more fool them now.

"We proved we weren't underdogs and we played them off the park.

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