BACK IN THE GAME
Ryan Kent celebrates scoring the first goal of the new Premiership season which gave Rangers the points behind closed doors at Pittodrie.
Rangers begin with a win as the Premiership returns with no fans but plenty of thrills
For 86 minutes, this was a low calorie renewal of one of Scotland’s meatiest fixtures.
Rangers scored early through Ryan Kent and were drifting along to victory against what was an oddly anodyne Aberdeen.
But when Andrew Considine lunged his boot into Scott Arfield in front of the dugouts, not even the absence of fans could disguise the passion and fire that sparked between these two old rivals.
The coaches howled and Bobby Madden, a referee who usually issues cautions for offences that might otherwise require a custodial sentence, reached for the red card.
The 2020-21 Scottish Premiership was well and truly under way.
Aberdeen draped banners over the South Stand seats to give television viewers something to look at but the one that drew the most attention was a small effort hoisted up high behind the corner of the floodlight.
It was on the platform of a cherry picker on which stood two Dons fans clearly intent on seeing the football live and by any means necessary.
Rangers’ starting line-up contained another mild surprise with Steve Gerrard giving a start to new signing Leon Balogun ahead of George Edmondson.
The former Wigan centre half was an eyecatcher on two fronts. One because of his physical presence, two because of his obvious composure on the ball.
No sooner had Dons legend Willie Miller stated that his old team needed to do better or else, they were behind.
The goal was as slick as it was simple. James Tavernier found Alfredo Morelos in midfield with a chipped pass and the Colombian slid a pass in behind.
Ryan Kent read his team-mate perfectly and sprinted through to go one-on-one with Joe Lewis.
Blessed with both time and space, he made no mistake placing a shot beyond the keeper for 1-0.
Stung, Aberdeen, who had 21-yearold Bruce Anderson up front in place of the injured Sam Cosgrove, pressed forward with a bit more urgency.
Funso Ojo at least forced a save out of Allan McGregor with a fierce deflected effort from 18 yards.
They struggled to get on top of the Rangers midfield, though.
With Ryan Jack and Glen Kamara working hard to shut down time and space plus Ianis Hagi, Kent and Joe Aribo all chipping in when not involved in the creative stuff, the visitors impressed in the central areas.
With the game starting to flatten in the second half, it was no surprise to see Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes turn to his substitutes’ bench.
Off went Anderson, who had struggled due to lack of service, and on went Ryan Edmondson.
A 19-year-old striker brought up on loan from Leeds United to fill the gap left by Cosgrove, he gave the Dons more height and was clearly keen to make an impression as he harried away at the Rangers defence.
McInnes quickly made more changes with Dean Campbell, Niall McGinn and Ryan Hedges introduced in place of Craig Bryson, Matt Kennedy and Ojo – and it helped.
McGinn added craft and guile while Campbell upped the energy levels in midfield.
Being kind to Considine, it must have got the veteran’s adrenaline levels up to a dangerously high level.
There was little else to explain, and nothing to excuse, the challenge on Rangers substitute Arfield that earned him a straight red card.
He lunged into his opponent in a tackle that was as reckless as it was dangerous.
After that, everyone’s blood was up. At one flare-up at the stand side corner flag, players from both teams had to be pulled apart.
The lateness of the offence, though, meant it only lasted for a handful minutes.
The final whistle blew and the players fist-bumped and made up. What the lads from the cherrypicker made of it all wasn’t clear. They had disappeared at half-time, presumably under official instruction.