RANGERS sealed a valuable three points in the Scottish Premiership this afternoon after a convincing 4-1 victory against Aberdeen.
A pair of first half goals from Antonio Colak and Jon Lundstrum gave the Light Blues the much-needed lead at the end of a challenging first 45, before Tavernier and Alfredo Morelos stabbed home two in the second half to further stretch the team’s lead.
From the team that faced Napoli at the Diego Armando Maradona in their Champions League match midweek, Colak and Fashion Jr returned to the pitch in place of Alfredo Morelos and Scott Wright.
Allan McGregor retained his place between the sticks, behind a backline of James Tavernier, Leon King, Ben Davies and Ridvan Yilmaz.
In midfield, John Lundstram was joined by James Sands and Malik Tillman as Antonio Colak and Fashion Jr joined the attacking front three alongside Ryan Kent.
Rangers looked fired up in the early minutes of kick-off with an eagerness showcased to quickly push forward.
Ridvan did well to dart towards the Aberdeen goal from the halfway mark, the versatile defender danced his way into the final third before delivering a tantalising switch to Tillman who overlapped him.
The Ger picked out Colak breaking into the box, but the Croatian’s possession of the ball was unfortunately intercepted before he could stab a shot towards the Aberdeen goal.
The Light Blues built from their threatening start as they looked to seal an early goal as Kent made a dangerous and intelligent run down the left side to break past the back four.
He wove his way to the front post before curling a delivery to Tillman patiently waiting in the box where he unleashed a forceful volley, but it agonisingly drifted over the crossbar.
Aberdeen then began to intently push towards Alan McGregor between the posts. Ross McCrorie drove the ball from within his own half to thread a delivery through the defending line to Connor Barron, but he was unable to latch onto his effort.
Unsurprisingly, Colak continued to cause angst within the final third area. The in-form striker released a ferocious strike across the floor of the pitch, but Kelle Roos was able to smother his effort to deny the Gers the opener.
At the other end, Goodwin’s side looked to counterattack briskly. As the clock struck the 20-minute mark, the visitor’s found the first goal to break the deadlock with Barron slotting the ball away from within a congested Rangers box.
Van Bronckhorst’s side looked to quickly rectify this and carried a dangerous final third threat into the Aberdeen box. Kent struck the ball from within the opposition’s final third, but McCrorie made a key clearance from the line to maintain his side’s advantage.
The Gers looked fired up following this as they continued to create difficult conditions for the Aberdeen backline, and with less than six minutes elapsed from the opening goal, Colak found the much-needed equaliser.
Following a quick counter-attack, Tillman raced his way forward and swept the ball across the penalty area to meet the foot of the goal-scoring striker.
Without hesitation or surprise, Colak fired it straight into the back of the net to close the deficit and put it all level once again.
Fashion Jr looked hungry to strike the back of the net, but both of his efforts created were blocked or cleared by Roos and his defensive line.
Rangers carried an abundance of energy straight into the final minutes of the first 45, and on the cusp of half time, their patience was rewarded after Lundstrum secured their second of the afternoon.
Borna Barisic whipped in a dangerous-looking free-kick from outside the Aberdeen box to meet the captain, who unleashed a paced volley towards goal.
However, his strike could only sting the palms of Roos who kept the danger away. Yet, Tavernier read the play well and collected the deflection to cut back to Lundstrum placed perfectly between the posts.
The midfielder latched onto Tavernier’s cutback and fired a blistering strike to shake the back of the Aberdeen net and give his side a well-deserved lead at the half time whistle.
As the two side’s returned for the second 45, Fashion Jr became a thorn amongst the right side as he made continual paced runs to the Aberdeen goal.
This ferocious start from the Gers certainly paid off as the Skipper managed to stretch his side’s lead after her supplied the third of the afternoon.
Again, Barisic delivered a teasing cross to float into the opposition’s box. His curling effort met the head of the captain patiently waiting at the back post who steered a header through the arms of Roos.
As the clock was closing in on 60 minutes, and after a check with VAR, the referee pointed to the penalty spot after Jayden Richardson gave a handball within the box.
Tavernier stepped up to execute the spot kick, but his effort struck the post and was then cleared.
Substitutes, Scott Arfield and Alfredo Morelos weren’t shy to disrupt the opposition’s box. The midfielder engineered a testing strike to the Aberdeen goal, but McCrorie was again in position to block his effort from the goal line.
The Colombian also looked to add to his side’s tally after striking the back of the net twice. However, the offside flag was agonisingly raised for his first goal.
Following this, the striker struck the back of the net once more after Fashion Jr delivered a superb effort into the box. Yet, the referee again called for a VAR goal check after a possible offside. With much anticipation felt amongst the stands at Ibrox, the referee allowed the goal to end the match in a convincing 4-1 victory.
RANGERS: McGregor, Tavernier, Ridvan (Barisic, 7), Lundstrum, Colak (Morelos, 79), Kent, Sands, Davies (Arfield, 46), Fashion Jr, King, Tillman.
UNUSED SUBS: McLaughlin, Davis, Matondo, Wright, McCann, Devine.
ABERDEEN: Roos, McCrorie, MacKenzie (Besuijen, 69), Scales, Stewart, Barron (Duncan, 62), Miovski (Ramirez, 76), Lopes, Ramadani, Clarkson, Richardson (Coulson, 62).
UNUSED SUBS: Lewis, Morris, Watkins, Milne, Kennedy.
REFEREE: Nick Walsh
ASSISTANT REFEREE: David McGeachie and Drew Kirkland
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Alan Newlands
ATTENDANCE: 49,365.
ㅤ
ㅤ