Rangers rescue late point at Aberdeen but fail to gain ground on Celtic
Rangers blew their chance of putting pressure on Celtic despite a late James Tavernier penalty giving them a 1-1 draw against Aberdeen at Pittodrie.
The Light Blues saw a chink of title light on Saturday when the Premiership leaders drew 1-1 at home with Motherwell, but they fell behind after 11 minutes to a Bojan Miovski goal after a static defence had again been exposed. Any time Rangers did get through, the goalkeeper Kelle Roos and the Aberdeen crossbar – Rangers hit the woodwork twice after the break – provided a formidable barrier.
However, in the final minute of normal time, after being sent by the VAR, Andrew Dallas, to check his pitchside monitor, the referee, Nick Walsh, pointed to the spot, judging Aberdeen’s Stefan Gartenmann had pulled Connor Goldson’s jersey at a corner. Tavernier, the captain, converted from the spot for a draw that keeps Celtic eight points clear at the top of the table, albeit with the Hoops having played one more game. Philippe Clement has gone eight games unbeaten since becoming the Rangers manager but he will feel this was an opportunity missed against the side they meet in next month’s League Cup final at Hampden Park.
Aberdeen’s convincing 3-1 win at Ibrox in September ended Michael Beale’s time as Rangers manager and the former Light Blues striker and current pundit Kris Boyd had added spice to the game by saying Aberdeen’s players, who lost 6-0 to Celtic in their last outing, would raise their game for this.
The home side, who had the Slovenian Ester Sokler making his first league start with the winger Ryan Duncan and midfielder Jamie McGrath back in the team, certainly started with purpose. The defender Slobodan Rubezic’s header from a Leighton Clarkson free-kick was saved by Jack Butland who, moments later, brilliantly denied
Sokler with his left foot, after the forward had been sent racing clear of the defence by Clarkson.
Rangers had José Cifuentes making his first start under Clement, with his fellow midfielder Todd Cantwell also returning along with the Brazilian striker Danilo, but it was the midfielder Tom Lawrence who came close to getting the breakthrough, his drive saved by Roos.
The Dons keeper was the initial architect of the route-one opener, his long clearance headed on by Sokler with the North Macedonia striker Miovski this time running past the centre-backs Goldson and Leon Balogun before confidently guiding the ball low past Butland.
Slowly Rangers came back and a Cantwell pass that sped across the Aberdeen goal in the 25th minute was begging to be tapped in before Roos saved Danilo’s close-range effort with his foot. The Pittodrie No 1 then made a magnificent save from Balogun’s header from Abdallah Sima’s cross before grabbing John Lundstram’s attempt from the rebound.
At the other end, as the hosts rallied, Butland parried clear a powerful 25-yard strike from McGrath, the last real goalmouth action of the first half. Roos made another decent block from Danilo’s angled drive early in the second half as the visitors went in search of a leveller.
Rangers kept Aberdeen pinned in their own half for large spells but the Dons defended diligently, although in the 73rd minute Lawrence cracked their bar with a 30-yard volley before Balogun hit it with a header from close range.
The visitors kept pushing and got their reward with Tavernier’s late penalty, with the substitute Sam Lammers then missing a good chance to win it in added time when he headed straight in to the arms of Roos.
Clement would not countenance the notion of a missed opportunity to put Celtic under pressure. “It is nothing to do with top of the table or whatever,” he said afterwards. “If you had the [expected goals] that we had today, we should have scored more goals. It is a big xG for an away game against a tough opponents, all credit to Aberdeen.”
Dons boss Barry Robson was far from convinced about the penalty. “So, Stefan got blocked, I think we all see that, so obviously VAR have not bothered looking at the block, they have just looked at the pull of the shirt,” he said. “We are in trouble, aren’t we, if this is the way it is going to go?”Asked what he said to referee Walsh after the game, Robson replied: “I hope you got it right. There’s too many decisions been wrong in Scotland.”