Dogged Dons do the damage yet again

Rangers drop more points in title race

STEVEN GERRARD may have been tempted to mutter an Aberdeen fans’ chant under his breath as his team toiled and failed to find a late winner.

You know the one, aired by a smattering of supporters in Paisley last Sunday and aimed at their manager Derek McInnes.

That travelling Red Army lauded their boss’s team for securing this stalemate at the final whistle, in a marked contrast to their response just along the M8 from Ibrox.

Really, it is Rangers fans and Gerrard who have now seen enough of the man who turned down the job six months before he signed up for the challenge.

McInnes was the curse of Rangers last season. Aberdeen pinched a late draw in Gerrard’s first-ever Ladbrokes Premiership game, bundled them out of both cup competitions and won at Ibrox in the league.

Here, severe damage was inflicted on the Glasgow side’s title challenge for the second weekend in succession with Aberdeen at their gritty best.

That’s four points dropped to the Dons this season and Celtic have been handed the invitation to streak points seven clear with victory at Hamilton this lunchtime.

Rangers, despite late new-signing cameos from Ianis Hagi and Flo Kamberi, couldn’t break down a dogged Aberdeen defence that claimed a third clean sheet since the winter break.

The knock-on effect of the mid-season breather is something nagging at Gerrard now.

Their title challenge wilted soon after the restart last term.

Following defeat at Tynecastle and yesterday’s draw, they can ill afford any more slips if Celtic maintain any semblance of their form.

The Rangers manager has begged for a ‘spark’ to relight their season which, in the final third, has gone out in 2020.

On his first appearance since his red card at Celtic Park, Alfredo Morelos grafted tirelessly for a look-in but when the moments arrived for him to show his cutting edge, it was surprisingly lacking.

Perhaps on account of his extended lay-off, those chances to sneak a 1-0 win got away.

He failed to square a simple ball across the penalty box for Ryan Kent. Joe Lewis blocked his one first-half shot at the near post.

Then, in the 58th minute when a superb Connor Goldson ball laid out a great opportunity, a curiously lazy finish from the top scorer allowed Lewis to save again.

Aberdeen could easily claim, however, that they should have celebrated with three points as two golden first-half chances were passed up by the otherwise excellent Sam Cosgrove.

Niall McGinn’s trickery took out Nikola Katic down the right flank only for Cosgrove’s arrival to miss the cross entirely when any kind of connection would have put the Dons into an early lead.

Cosgrove was in the thick of the frenetic early battles as the visitors physically served it up to Rangers throughout.

And on the half hour, Katic was caught once again when bullied out of possession by Cosgrove.

Perhaps the Englishman was spooked by his fortune for the next touch, a heavy one, cost him dearly as he ranged in on goal and a one-on-one with Allan McGregor.

The keeper was first to the ball with a pounce, to cries of anguish from the Aberdeen bench.

McGregor’s fingertips had already brushed a Lewis Ferguson header over his crossbar as Aberdeen displayed a purpose so lacking last weekend. The manager stuck to his guns, however, starting the same line-up that ground out a draw at St Mirren and, from Ash Taylor and Scott McKenna, there were more signs of a blossoming partnership.

In the wake of that Cosgrove scare, Rangers gained a grip and found a level of composure in their play before forcing two fine Lewis saves before the interval.

Firstly at full stretch to push away a powerful 22-yard Steven Davis strike then, brilliantly, reacting with a strong right hand on the line to repel a Scott Arfield header. Aberdeen were ferociously competitive, Rangers would complain crude.

Goldson was booked for griping at the leniency of Andrew Dallas, just as the referee was reaching for Cosgrove’s overdue yellow card.

But Rangers betrayed signs of being rattled, no less when Glen Kamara’s sloppiness let in Jon Gallagher and the Finn was relieved to see the substitute fire wide.

McGregor denied Gallagher next as focal point Cosgrove dragged the Dons up the park again.

Taylor’s header from the subsequent corner was clawed off the line by the Rangers keeper and the anxiety around Ibrox was on the increase.

Kent didn’t get much change from Funso Ojo, just one of a number of Aberdeen players promising better in the second half of an injurydisrupted season.

His namesake Sheyi was Gerrard’s first attempt to provide the penetration for the home side but the predicament soon begged for fresh impetus and, on 77 minutes, Hagi was introduced. He demanded the ball and, with his new teammates in need of a bail-out, they were happy to oblige.

There was barely room for him to operate, however, as Aberdeen closed ranks further as time wore on and Kamberi got no closer than finding frustration in an offside flag as he slipped in behind.

A couple of defensive substitutions for the four minutes of injury-time and it was over to Aberdeen to hold firm.

They did just that to gain unexpected ground on Motherwell in the race for third place.

The Rangers view of moving one more point closer to their own target was not as favourable.