Second-half goals from Kirsty Howat and Kayla McCoy ensured the Light Blues head back to Glasgow with another Park’s Motor Group SWPL 1 victory under their belt.
There was an almost sold-out main stand at Pittodrie as a fantastic crowd turned out for the first top-flight women’s game to be hosted at the stadium.
Malky Thomson named four changes to his side from Sunday’s victory over Spartans with Janni Arnth, Sam Kerr, Kirsty Howat and Kayla McCoy coming into the starting line-up. Brianna Westrup, Ciara Grant, Zoe Ness and Megan Bell were all named on the bench.
Rangers lined-up in the north-east with Jenna Fife in goal and a back four of Demi Vance, Chantelle Swaby, Janni Arnth and Nicola Docherty.
Tessel Middag and Sam Kerr were joined in midfield by Jane Ross as they provided attacking support to the front three of Kirsty Howat, Kayla McCoy and Brogan Hay.
On her first start since her return from ACL injury, Kirsty Howat was first to test Aberdeen goalkeeper Aaliyah-Jay Meach with a shot from distance but it was held well to deny Rangers an early opener.
The Light Blues were trying to settle into this game and Brogan Hay drove to the byline with 15 minutes on the clock and cut the ball back to Howat. The striker released a powerful curling ball towards goal but it took a deflection off of Jane Ross to take it over the bar.
Hay came close herself shortly after as a short corner taken by Tessel Middag saw the ball fall for the winger just inside the edge of the box but her drilled effort was held by Meach.
The home crowd were giving Aberdeen a lift in this SWPL 1 clash and they came close through Bayley Hutchison as she curled a shot just over the bar.
Rangers were dominating possession at Pittodrie and were pushing for the opening goal as half-time edged ever closer. Kirsty Howat came close again as she received the ball on the edge of the box but her low shot bounced just wide of the left-hand post.
Demi Vance delivered another inviting delivery from a corner shortly after, with Janni Arnth rising to send a header towards goal but it bounced back off the crossbar before the danger was cleared by the hosts.
Into first-half added time, another corner was whipped into the box by Demi Vance with a shot diverted towards goal but Meach was alert to the danger and pulled off a strong low save to keep the score level at the break.
Rangers seemed to have a real lift in the early stages as they searched for the breakthrough at Pittodrie, Kayla McCoy came close as she got her head to a cross from Nicola Docherty but it was cleared by Aberdeen before Demi Vance saw a powerful strike edge just wide of the target.
The pressure was piling as Demi Vance’s corner met Sam Kerr in the box and her hit looked set to open the scoring but it bounced back off the underside of the crossbar before the referee awarded the homeside a free-kick after a scramble in the box.
The Light Blues got their rewards for their strong start to the second-half, in another wave of Rangers attack Jane Ross picked the ball up on the edge of the box and released a shot which Kirsty Howat got a touch to turn it behind Aaliyah-Jay Meach.
With 75 minutes on the clock, Rangers made it 2-0. Kayla McCoy made a fantastic run to meet a long ball over the top and send herself one-on-one with the keeper. The striker showed composure to take a touch and fire low beyond Meach.
Rangers managed to comfortably see out the final 15 minutes of the match as Thomson introduced Megan Bell and Academy youngster Emma Watson.
RANGERS: Fife, Vance, Swaby, Arnth, Docherty, Middag, Kerr, Ross, Hay (Watson, 84), Howat (Grant, 65), McCoy (Bell, 81).
Subs: Cunningham, Ness, Bell, Westrup, Watson.
Aberdeen: Meach, Campbell, Forrest, Broadrick, Paterson, Gover, Shore, Thomson, Brown (Stewart, 76), Hutchison, Collins.
Subs: Gilmour, Doig, Bruce, Sopel, Fraser, Gordon.
Referee: Jack Bell
Rangers are delighted to unveil even more football stars who will come to Ibrox on March 26 to celebrate our 150th anniversary as part of the Weekend of Legends, presented by Unibet. World Legends team include names such as Luís Figo, Claude Makéléle, Iván Córdoba, Ricardo Carvalho, Predrag Mijatović, Gheorge Hagi and Roy Makaay. Alex McLeish will manage the Rangers Legends squad which features light blue heroes such as Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Paul Gascoigne, Sasa Papac, Michael Mols, Kris Boyd, Nikica Jelavić, Ronald De Boer, Alan Hutton, Carlos Cuellar, Pedro Mendez, Lee McCulloch and Jorg Albertz. Additionally, former treble winning Captain and Rangers Hall of Fame inductee Barry Ferguson will be the Rangers Legends Captain.
To mark this incredible occasion, the Rangers Legends squad will wear a specially designed Rangers Legends kit that carries the name of every Rangers captain to lead the club. In addition, the shirt features a traditional collar design reminiscent of some our most famous shirts and our commemorative 150th anniversary crest is proudly embroidered on the chest. This limited-edition shirt is available to pre-order now from The Rangers Store online.