PEDRO CAIXINHA believes Alfredo Morelos began a long scoring career at Rangers with a double in the thumping 6-0 Betfred Cup win over Dunfermline at Ibrox.
Kenny Miller and Bruno Alves had the home side two up in eight minutes before the 21-year-old Colombian, who signed a three-year deal from HJK Helsinki, opened his account with a low drive and defender James Tavernier added a fourth before the break.
Portuguese attacker Daniel Candeias fired in a free-kick in the 56th minute for his first Rangers goal and Morelos grabbed his second from close range to emphasise the gap between the two sides on the night.
Caixinha was reluctant to comment too much on the quarter-final draw which sees the Gers travel to Partick Thistle, saying: “It’s too far away from now. We have a month to get there, we need to fight to get to the semi-finals but that’s all for the moment.”
Betfred Cup: Rangers run riot against Dunfermline and Dundee triumph in derby
However, Caixinha was full of praise for the performance of Morelos, adding: “I think what really pleased me is the anger and the passion he played with.
“He fought for every ball, he was always fighting. And he was in the right place to score.
“That’s just two goals I’m sure in a long career of scoring many more goals for Rangers.
“Strikers live on goals and I am pleased my two strikers scored. The levels of confidence make a difference”.
The Portuguese boss was pleased in general with the way his side went about their business against the Championship side.
He said: “I really enjoyed it tonight, really pleased with the quality, commitment, pace and rhythm.
“The leadership was good, controlling the game. I have to be pleased with that.”
Dunfermline boss Allan Johnston, a former Gers attacker, said: ‘We were really poor tonight, losing the early goals.
“You can see the quality they’ve got once they’ve got their confidence up and start playing, so we made it a long night for us.
“When the third went in and then the fourth went in very quickly. They have got a lot of good players who can hurt you, but we made it easy for them.
“We need to make sure we respond in the right manner.
“This is not going to make or break our season, a game against Rangers. We need to get back on track in the Championship, which is where we want to be successful this season.”
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