Rangers over Aberdeen at Ibrox this afternoon in a
dramatic conclusion to an intense ninety minutes.
The victory may have been late, but it was more than
deserved such was the Light Blues' overwhelming
superiority.
Manager Paul Le Guen made one change from Thursday
with Sasa Papac replacing Kris Boyd.
It was all Rangers from the opening minutes but it was
21 minutes before the first effort on target - Charlie
Adam's thirty-yard free-kick being held by Jamie
Langfield.
Sixty seconds later the Ibrox men had a strong penalty
claim denied when Thomas Buffel was pulled back by
Andrew Considine as he advanced on a Steven Smith
pass.
The Dons were not just here to make up the numbers
however - Considine's header from Chris Clark's
free-kick skimming the crossbar on the half-hour mark.
As on Thursday Buffel's movement and running was
creating havoc for the visitors' defence - his cross
in 32 minutes producing shots from Libor Sionko and
Barry Ferguson that were both blocked.
The action quickly switched to the other end where
Clark's 25-yard shot was held by Allan McGregor.
Rangers were still infinitely the better team however
- Buffel, through from a Charlie Adam pass in 36
minutes, cleverly turned on a sixpence to chip
Langfield only for the Dons' goalie to leap high to
block the effort.
Six minutes later Ferguson's header from Adam's cross
was held by Langfield, then immediately thereafter the
Light Blues were denied a stonewall penalty when
Michael Hart hauled back Dado Prso as the Croatian
raced through on a long ball from Smith. Incredibly
Referee Charlie Richmond awarded a free-kick on the
edge of the box and booked the defender, but the
offence happened well inside the box and the official
received a crescendo of booing as he left the field at
the end of the first-half with the scoreline goalless
to the immense frustration of the 50,488 crowd.
Rangers restarted still very much on the offensive -
Sionko firing over from a Buffel corner in the opening
minute.
Five minutes later Adam's low left-foot grounder from
a Buffel lay-off flashed just wide.
Boyd replaced the injured Sionko in 56 minutes, but
the breakthrough almost arrived six minutes later when
Richard Foster sliced a clearance inches over his own
crossbar as he was harrassed by the chasing Buffel as
the Belgian moved onto a Prso head-flick.
Langfield again proved equal to the task in 66
minutes, holding Boyd's volley from a Prso cutback.
For all the home pressure there was the ever-present
danger of a Dons' breakaway - highlighted seven
minutes later when substitute Zander Diamond headed
over from Scott Severin's driven cross.
Filip Sebo replaced Adam in 77 minutes, arriving just
in time to see Clark - through on a Severin pass -
beat McGregor only for his chip to come back off the
post to be scrambled clear.
With time running out Rangers piled on the pressure -
Sebo almost bringing the house down in 85 minutes when
he cut inside on the left before rifling a twenty-yard
shot inches over.
The breakthrough finally, at long last, happened two
minutes later when a Ferguson free-kick was headed
back across goal by Rodriguez into the path of Buffel
whose shot was blocked, Sebo seizing on the loose ball
to net with a low drive.
The Stadium erupted, and the Slovakian wildly
celebrated his first home goal.
It was a thoroughly deserved win, and afterwards Le
Guen summarised:
"This was a very good win which we deserved. We had so
many chances. We dominated the whole game, and never
gave up. The players gave all they could."
Aberdeen Boss Jimmy Calderwood admitted:
"Rangers had a few chances. We got the breaks at
times."
No account of this afternoon's proceedings would be
complete however without reference to the appalling
conduct of the Aberdeen fans, who polluted the air in
the early stages of the game by singing sickening
songs in reference to the 1971 Ibrox Disaster as well
as their customary "Nice One Simmie" chant, harking
back to the 1988 assault on Ian Durrant by Neil
Simpson.
Such evil has no place in sport today, and one can
only wonder when the Pittodrie club will take action
against the offenders by banning them for life.
RANGERS McGregor; Bardsley, Papac, Rodriguez, Smith;
Sionko (Boyd 56), Ferguson, Hemdani, Adam (Sebo 77);
Buffel, Prso (Martin 67)
UNUSED SUBS Robinson, Rae, Svensson, N'Diaye
ABERDEEN Langfield; Foster, Anderson (Diamond 55),
Hart, Considine; Nicholson, Dempsey, Severin, Clark;
Mackie (Daal 64), Miller
UNUSED SUBS Soutar, Smith, Winter, Donald, Maguire
REFEREE Charlie Richmond
Attendance 50,488