SEND-OFF SAVED BY A SOFT CALL
Contentious penalty sees Smith salute end in draw
RANGERS 2 Morelos 20 Tavernier 81 pen ABERDEEN 2 Ramirez 8 Brown 16
RANGERS were unable to grant Walter Smith the tribute win this occasion demanded. Goals from Alfredo Morelos and a disputed James Tavernier penalty nine minutes from time averted a first home defeat in the league since Hamilton in March 2020.
Yet the loss of two points wasn’t what Steven Gerrard had in mind when he urged his players to honour his legendary predecessor with a performance worthy of his name.
The dignity of a pre-match minute’s silence, impeccably observed by both sets of fans, gave way to appeals from an emotional home crowd to go out and win it for Walter. When Aberdeen streaked into a two-goal lead, the respect gave way to a more primitive emotion. Anger.
Despite nicking a point in the final ten minutes, the lead over bitter rivals Celtic is now slashed after the loss of home points for the third time this season.
Over two spells as manager, Smith was embroiled in a few neck-and-neck title battles with the team from the other side of the city. And, after another self-inflicted Rangers setback, the current campaign is now shaping up as another one.
A banner draped the length of the Broomloan Stand before kick-off spoke for every supporter when it read ‘For deeds done and glories won, thank you Walter.’ Were he still here now, the legendary boss would smile ruefully and admit he was no stranger to the kind of boos which rang round Ibrox at time up either.
Give Aberdeen their due. Buoyed by their first win in ten against Hibs at the weekend, they were respectful when they needed to be. And ruthless once the whistle shrilled.
Christian Ramirez gave the visitors a shock lead after nine minutes and Rangers were architects of their own misfortune when Jon McLaughlin — in goal for Allan McGregor once more — tried to pass the ball out from a goal-kick.
John Lundstram was caught flatfooted by a short Connor Goldson pass and the Aberdeen press. Nicking possession, the team in red took advantage brilliantly. Dean Campbell played a delightful ball to Ryan Hedges in space on the left and his dinked cross was headed into an unguarded net at the back post by Ramirez.
After a difficult spell, the American has now scored in his last three Premiership games. He’s coming on to a game.
The shock of the home support had barely abated when Aberdeen doubled their lead after 15 minutes. Adding insult to injury was the identity of the goalscorer.
Handed the first of his 55 Scotland caps by Smith, Scott Brown paid warm tribute to his former international boss in the pre-match press conference. Any kudos that earned him in the eyes of a Rangers support who recall his days as a provocative captain of Celtic didn’t last long.
As Dylan McGeouch’s corner speared into the area, Brown ran off Tavernier and bulleted an unstoppable diving header into the net from 12 yards. Running to celebrate in front of Rangers fans in the Sandy Jardine Stand, the amnesty was over. Hostilities were resumed.
Aberdeen’s defensive fragility was obvious from the start. Without the injured trio of Declan Gallagher, Calvin Ramsay and Jack MacKenzie — not to mention Andrew Considine — Brown played in a deep-lying defensive position. Funso Ojo was given an unfamiliar role at right wing-back, handed the task of containing the running power of Calvin Bassey on the Rangers flank.
A patchwork defence looked vulnerable at free-kicks and corners. And five minutes after the Brown goal sent Ibrox into paroxysms of anger, the mood turned with a timely counter from the home side.
Alfredo Morelos claimed his 100th goal for Rangers against St Mirren on Sunday.
Here, he added his 101st with a close-range header from a pacy, dangerous — and dubious — Tavernier free-kick, strongly disputed by Aberdeen.
This was now a ridiculously open game of football. Too open, you suspect, for the tastes of Stephen Glass.
Time and again, the Dons manager gestured to his players to calm down as they tried to hack the ball clear of the danger area.
Every time Rangers won a corner, Goldson seemed to win the ball in the air. One attempt was bravely blocked. Before half-time, he met a Tavernier corner flush and forced Joe Lewis into a superb instinctive save. Aberdeen were just trying to make it to half-time without conceding. They just about made it.
If Smith’s loss was hard on supporters who never met the man, you can only wonder how it impacted on players who walked the same corridors every day, year after year.
Earlier in the day, McGregor and Steven Davis — two of the survivors of the Smith team which reached the UEFA Cup final of 2008 — took part in a sombre ceremony outside Ibrox with captain Tavernier and the club’s