Rangers 3 Aberdeen 0 – Igamane strikes again as Gers coast to thumping victory against dire Dons
RANGERS as a club stands accused of taking their eye off the ball. At Ibrox last night, Aberdeen never recovered from the moment one of their defenders did. GettyHamza Igamane celebrates scoring his opening goal[/caption] Willie VassLeon Balogun added the second[/caption] PACyriel Dessers scored the third after coming on as a substitute[/caption] GettyIt’s a horror run of form for Jimmy Thelin’s Aberdeen[/caption] The Dons’ away support turned up here hoping to pile the pressure on Philippe Clement after the weekend protests. Instead, they watched centre-back Sivert Nilsen gift the opening goal to the Belgian’s team and settle the stadium down. There was only 13 minutes on the clock when the experienced Norwegian blundered. It’s not like it was game over there and then for Jimmy Thelin’s side with so much football still to be played. But it was a set-back the Reds just never really recovered from. Hamza Igamane made the most of the opportunity with substitutes Leon Balogun and Cyriel Dessers sealing this deserved victory in stoppage time. But this morning Nilsen will probably still be asking himself how on earth he managed to make such a basic error at 0-0. Goalkeeper Ross Doohan couldn’t have thrown a simpler ball to him. But the stopper lifted his head at just the wrong moment and gifted possession to Vaclav Cerny inside his own penalty box. The Czech winger quickly rolled a pass inside to Mohamed Diomande who smashed a shot which was blocked. But it broke for Igamane to calmly slot his effort into the net. It was just the sort of thing Clement needed to ease the pressure on his players. Thelin’s game-plan would have been all about making life tough for the home side, hoping the home fans turned nasty. https://twitter.com/ScotlandSky/status/1879623778256253319 The punters were primed to react to any slip-up. Even with the team winning, banners were unfurled on 55 minutes with a message delivered which was once sent out by the late, great Walter Smith. It read: ‘Rangers FC – do no enter unless you are ready to put yourself second – and that should be the one and only time second is good enough for you.’ There were no walk-outs, though. No angry exchanges in the stands. The Union Bears gave Clement and the team their full support by singing and chanting throughout the whole 90 minutes. Listen, regardless of what happened here, Clement still has a major job on his hands convincing the die-hards that he’s the right man to take this club forward. But he can only take one game at a time and hope that the mood changes around Ibrox over time. Rangers’ home form has been excellent this season so it wasn’t the biggest surprise in the world that they managed to swipe the Dons side. Thelin worked wonders when he was first installed as Pittodrie boss. But it’s now 12 games without a victory and if they defend like they did here at times that run not be ending anytime soon. The Light Blues could have scored two or three goals in the first-half alone. Ianis Hagi was in the mood to cause problems with Igamane impressing yet again as he took his tally for the season to 13 goals. It could have been more without some outstanding goalkeeping from Doohan.; The Moroccan striker blasted an effort on target late in the first-half that would have had the beating of most Premiership keepers. Rangers v Aberdeen man bys By ROBERT GRIEVE RANGERS: Kelly 7, Yilmaz 7, Propper 6 (Balogun 75, 4), Nsiala 8, Jefte 7, Diomande 7, Raskin 7, Cerny 7, Danilo 5 (Bajrami 46, 5), Hagi 8 (Tavernier 79, 2), Igamane 8 (Dessers 89, 2). Aberdeen: Doohan 8, Devlin 7, Nilsen 6, Tobers 6, McGarry 6 (Jensen 71, 3), Shinnie 6, Palaversa 6 (Dorrington 64, 4), Keskinen 6 (Morris 67, 3), Clarkson 7, Okkels 6 (Polvara 71, 2), Nisbet 5 (Duk 64, 4). Doohan also denied Jefte and Hagi with confident stops. Defensively Rangers were also solid when they had to be with young Clinton Nsiala having a terrific night. His use of the ball was excellent and when he had to be strong and physical he stood up to the task. There was one anxious moment for the home fans in the first-half when Leighton Clarkson tried his luck with a shot from just inside the Rangers half. It could easily have beaten Liam Kelly had he not been on his toes and alert to the danger. But the former Scotland squad keeper was switched on enough to race back onto his line and prevent an embarrassment. Thelin had to get more from his team in the second-half. It would have been galling how that opening goal came about but the way his team invited trouble into themselves must also have been hugely frustrating. The danger for Clement was that his side were only one goal ahead in a game they were dominating. But he was proactive in making a change at the

RANGERS as a club stands accused of taking their eye off the ball.
At Ibrox last night, Aberdeen never recovered from the moment one of their defenders did.
The Dons’ away support turned up here hoping to pile the pressure on Philippe Clement after the weekend protests.
Instead, they watched centre-back Sivert Nilsen gift the opening goal to the Belgian’s team and settle the stadium down.
There was only 13 minutes on the clock when the experienced Norwegian blundered.
It’s not like it was game over there and then for Jimmy Thelin’s side with so much football still to be played.
But it was a set-back the Reds just never really recovered from.
Hamza Igamane made the most of the opportunity with substitutes Leon Balogun and Cyriel Dessers sealing this deserved victory in stoppage time.
But this morning Nilsen will probably still be asking himself how on earth he managed to make such a basic error at 0-0.
Goalkeeper Ross Doohan couldn’t have thrown a simpler ball to him.
But the stopper lifted his head at just the wrong moment and gifted possession to Vaclav Cerny inside his own penalty box.
The Czech winger quickly rolled a pass inside to Mohamed Diomande who smashed a shot which was blocked.
But it broke for Igamane to calmly slot his effort into the net.
It was just the sort of thing Clement needed to ease the pressure on his players.
Thelin’s game-plan would have been all about making life tough for the home side, hoping the home fans turned nasty. https://twitter.com/ScotlandSky/status/1879623778256253319
The punters were primed to react to any slip-up.
Even with the team winning, banners were unfurled on 55 minutes with a message delivered which was once sent out by the late, great Walter Smith.
It read: ‘Rangers FC – do no enter unless you are ready to put yourself second – and that should be the one and only time second is good enough for you.’
There were no walk-outs, though.
No angry exchanges in the stands.
The Union Bears gave Clement and the team their full support by singing and chanting throughout the whole 90 minutes.
Listen, regardless of what happened here, Clement still has a major job on his hands convincing the die-hards that he’s the right man to take this club forward.
But he can only take one game at a time and hope that the mood changes around Ibrox over time.
Rangers’ home form has been excellent this season so it wasn’t the biggest surprise in the world that they managed to swipe the Dons side.
Thelin worked wonders when he was first installed as Pittodrie boss.
But it’s now 12 games without a victory and if they defend like they did here at times that run not be ending anytime soon.
The Light Blues could have scored two or three goals in the first-half alone.
Ianis Hagi was in the mood to cause problems with Igamane impressing yet again as he took his tally for the season to 13 goals.
It could have been more without some outstanding goalkeeping from Doohan.;
The Moroccan striker blasted an effort on target late in the first-half that would have had the beating of most Premiership keepers.
Rangers v Aberdeen man bys
By ROBERT GRIEVE
RANGERS: Kelly 7, Yilmaz 7, Propper 6 (Balogun 75, 4), Nsiala 8, Jefte 7, Diomande 7, Raskin 7, Cerny 7, Danilo 5 (Bajrami 46, 5), Hagi 8 (Tavernier 79, 2), Igamane 8 (Dessers 89, 2).
Aberdeen: Doohan 8, Devlin 7, Nilsen 6, Tobers 6, McGarry 6 (Jensen 71, 3), Shinnie 6, Palaversa 6 (Dorrington 64, 4), Keskinen 6 (Morris 67, 3), Clarkson 7, Okkels 6 (Polvara 71, 2), Nisbet 5 (Duk 64, 4).
Doohan also denied Jefte and Hagi with confident stops.
Defensively Rangers were also solid when they had to be with young Clinton Nsiala having a terrific night.
His use of the ball was excellent and when he had to be strong and physical he stood up to the task.
There was one anxious moment for the home fans in the first-half when Leighton Clarkson tried his luck with a shot from just inside the Rangers half.
It could easily have beaten Liam Kelly had he not been on his toes and alert to the danger.
But the former Scotland squad keeper was switched on enough to race back onto his line and prevent an embarrassment.
Thelin had to get more from his team in the second-half.
It would have been galling how that opening goal came about but the way his team invited trouble into themselves must also have been hugely frustrating.
The danger for Clement was that his side were only one goal ahead in a game they were dominating.
But he was proactive in making a change at the break to try and make his team more of a threat. Danilo was taken off and replaced by Nedim Bajrami. https://twitter.com/ScotlandSky/status/1879649145390035113
In 56 minutes Hagi skimmed the crossbar with a really good effort from distance.
Cerny then had an even better opportunity to seal the win in 73 minutes but didn’t take it.
In 85 minutes substitute Balogun – on for injured Robin Propper – struck the most with a header.
The Dons were clinging on and went into the final minutes hoping for one big moment to snatch a draw.
But it never came.
And in stoppage time Balogun got on the scoresheet to make sure all three points were staying at Ibrox with Dessers showing real composure to add a late, late third. https://twitter.com/ScotlandSky/status/1879651354274107530
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