SMASH RICH
Gers may be making a loss off the pitch but on it their high-flying team boasts an embarrassment of wealth
RANGERS might have posted a hefty financial loss in their latest annual accounts.
But they keep gaining on the park as they increased their lead at the top of the table.
And the key investors who continue to plug the funding gap are at least getting bang for their buck as Steven Gerrard’s side made it 21 games unbeaten with a rout of Aberdeen at Ibrox.
So the £15.9million deficit announced by the club is at least tempered by an 11-point gap at the Premiership summit as they took full advantage of Celtic’s slip at Hibs 24 hours earlier.
And if Rangers continue like this there’s every chance they’ll have a first league title in a decade to show in next year’s annual report.
At £7m Ryan Kent’s transfer fee is just less than half of that total operating loss but he is priceless to Gerrard’s side and their chances of major silverware.
The 24-year-old underlined that with another impressive display, capped by a stunning opener after quarter of an hour.
Kemar Roofe, denied a clear penalty, added a second before the break with Scott Arfield and James Tavernier’s ninth penalty of the season completing an emphatic victory.
Rangers had won just five of their previous dozen meetings with Aberdeen, one of the bogey sides for the Light Blues in the last couple of seasons.
But this dismantling of the Dons, albeit the away side were decimated by injuries and the Scotland Under-21 Covid chaos, shows Rangers’ new- found winning mentality.
Derek McInnes was without Lewis Ferguson, Connor McLennan and Ross McCrorie, ineligible to play against his parent club anyway, which saw him hand a debut to 16-year-old Ryan Duncan from the bench.
But the biggest problem was coming up against a ruthless and relentless Gers side. This win makes it the best start to a topflight season in 53 years and Steven Gerrrard’s side still haven’t conceded a goal domestically.
The Dons, who could have moved to within a point of second place with a win, hadn’t even conceded on the road before this match. But following a thumping 8-0 win over Hamilton before the international break, there was no shutting out Gerrard’s men who are the form team in Scotland.
They can increase their lead to 14 points with a win at Ross County in their next league game on December 6 with Celtic not in action until later that day.
It’s nine years since Rangers last held such a commanding top-flight lead – they were 15 points clear at one stage in the 2011-12 season – before an almighty collapse.
The home side should have been ahead after just three minutes. Skipper Tavernier threaded a defence-splitting pass through to Kent who beat the offside trip. But Joe Lewis pulled off a brilliant stop to deny his fellow Englishman.
Kent scored the only goal at
Pittodriedi ini theh openingi l league game and should have done better but he wouldn’t have to wait long to end his run without a domestic goal since September.
Gers again got in behind the Dons defence when Scott Arfield picked out Joe Aribo who beat Funso Ojo for pace. But Ash Taylor got back to make a lastditch tackle.
Ojo was caught on the blindside by Aribo’s run and the Belgian was bamboozled in the build-up to the Gers opener.
Arfield shifted the ball to Kent in the middle of the park.
Then it was all about the former Liverpool man as he nutmegged Ojo before driving at goal and unleashing a ferocious shot that took a deflection off Tommie Hoban and in off the base of the post.
Ojo was heavily involved early on – and not in a good way – and hhe was luckylk nott tto conceded a penalty when referee Nick Walsh somehow failed to point to the spot after the former Scunthorpe man went right through Roofe inside the box.
It was wave after wave of Gers attack in the opening stages with the pace of Ryan Hedges on the counter the main threat for the away side at the other end.
Hedges slipped in Sam Cosgrove whose angled shot was turned wide by Allan McGregor bef o re the Welshman forced McGregor into another save when he raced away. But the lack of support meant he was forced to go for goal himself.
Rangers doubled their lead before the half hour and it was no more than they deserved for their dominance at that stage as they pinned the Dons back.
It came from a lovely Connor
GGoldsonld ballbll over theth top to Roofe. He showed determination to get into the box and as the Aberdeen defenders failed to get a challenge in on him he fired beyond Lewis.
That left the Donsns with a mountain to climbmb but Goldson did well too block a Hedges effort at the other end. And McGregor Gregor held Matty Kennedy’s edy’s free-kick on the stroke roke of half-time either side of Arfield having the he ball in the net which h was ruled out with h Roofe offside.
But Arfield only had to wait until four minutes into the second half to get on the scoresheet.
Kent was again involved after good d link- up play from om
AlfredoMorelosAlfredoMorelos and again Lewis was beaten by a deflection – this time off Shay Logan – which wrong-footed the keeper. And Lewis was left with little chance again for Gers’ fourth. But that has been theth same for every goalkeeper facfacing Tavernier from the ppenalty spot this season as the captain convconv er t ed af t e r ConConsidine grappled witwith Leon Balogun. Gers pressed for a fifth but Lewis ppushed a netboubound effort on to the uunderside of the bar aafter it deflected off substitutes Dean CamCampbell. AnAnd sub Cedric Itten spurneds a couple of oppoopportunities during his 16-minute attempt to impreimpress.