Championship race with an emphatic 3-0 win over
Aberdeen at Ibrox this afternoon, leapfrogging Celtic
who went down 2-3 to Hibernian at Easter Road.
All three 'Gers goals came in the second-half,
continuing a remarkable sequence that has seen 22 out
of 26 goals for the Light Blues this season notched
after the interval.
Manager Walter Smith made three changes from Wednesday
with Lee McCulloch, Steven Naismith (making his first
start) and Daniel Cousin replacing Brahim Hemdani,
Charlie Adam and Jean-Claude Darcheville.
The home side made the early running with Lee
McCulloch first to threaten in thirteen minutes when,
with his initial twenty-yard shot blocked, he seized
on the rebound to send a snap-shot whistling over the
bar.
It had been all of sixteen years since Aberdeen last
won at Ibrox, and few would have bet any money on
history being made this afternoon, yet the visitors
were comfortable in the opening stages and even
threatened Allan McGregor's charge in 25 minutes when
Scott Severin's thirty-yard drive flashed wide of the
target.
Rangers had the bulk of the pressure however - and
Steven Whittaker came close to the opener six minutes
later when his 25-yard volley following McGregor's
kick-out was just wide.
A poor half ended goalless - but the 49,046 crowd was
lifted at the interval by the news from Edinburgh, and
within 25 seconds of the restart Lee McCulloch had
broken the deadlock at Ibrox with a stunning 25-yard
volley after Cousin had chested the ball into his
path.
Suddenly the Ibrox legions were lifted by the
breakthrough - and Dons goalkeeper Jamie Langfield
saved his side's bacon in 51 minutes when he turned
over Steven Whittaker's twenty-yard drive from a
Carlos Cuellar lay-off.
The visitors were rattled, underlined sixty seconds
later when Langfield shoved his colleague Zander
Diamond as he remonstrated with him over a poor
clearance.
There was only going to be one winner now - and
Naismith brought the house down in 64 minutes when he
cut in from the left from a Sasa Papac pass before
finding the net from a tight angle.
Six minutes later Darcheville replaced Cousin, and
almost immediately thereafter Langfield's attempted
clearance went straight to Barry Ferguson some 35
yards out, but his chip was too high.
Naismith was full of energy now, but in 79 minutes he
was the victim of a shocking lunge from Diamond that
fully merited a red card. Referee Iain Brines
contented himself with yellow however, and the
Aberdeen defender would be roundly booed thereafter.
Naismith limped off to be replaced by Kris Boyd, and
the striker underlined the home side's superiority
when he slotted home Darcheville's pass for the third
goal in 87 minutes.
An upright denied the visitors even a consolation goal
in injury time when Severin's 22-yard free-kick hit a
post.
Afterwards a contented Walter Smith summarised:
"It was always going to be a difficult game after
Wednesday. We needed something special to break the
deadlock. Aberdeen are a good, well-organised side."
Pittodrie Manager Jimmy Calderwood reflected:
We were comfortable in the first-half, but Lee
McCulloch caused us all sorts of problems. The first
goal was fit to win any game, and the second finished
us off."
RANGERS McGregor; Hutton, Cuellar, Weir, Papac;
Whittaker, Ferguson, Thomson (Faye 86), McCulloch;
Naismith (Boyd 83), Cousin (Darcheville 70)
UNUSED SUBS Carroll, Beasley, Shinnie, Emslie
ABERDEEN Langfield; Hart, Diamond, Considine (Touzani
83), Foster; Maguire (Young 45), Nicholson, Severin,
Clark; Miller, J. Smith (De Visscher 66)
UNUSED SUBS Souter, Mair, McVittie
REFEREE Iain Brines
Attendance 49,046