Rangers 3-1 Aberdeen

Mar 2 2008 Euan Mclean At Ibrox

Nervy Gers Survive Blitz By Dons To Stay On Top

THE scoreline looked comfortable enough but Rangers had to survive one of their biggest scares of the season to maintain a four-point lead over Celtic at the top.

Aberdeen have a miserable record at Ibrox stretching back to 1991 but could have been three up inside the first half hour yesterday.

That they only managed to bag one through Steve Lovell's header was down to classy Gers keeper Allan McGregor - and dithering Jeffrey De Visscher who was guilty of a dreadful miss.

How the Dons were punished for it as Christian Dailly's equaliser just before the break set the stage for a dominant second-half Rangers display.

In the end a Charlie Adam header and a penalty rebound from Kris Boyd - although TV replays may hand the dubious honour to Dons defender Ricky Foster - sealed an 11th SPL win on the spin.

And Pittodrie boss Jimmy Calderwood admitted his side blew their big chance and with it any lingering hope of finishing third.

He said: "We could and should have been three up. I can't remember us ever coming to Ibrox and creating that many chances.

"McGregor was lucky with his first save but after that he made two or three great stops. However, with the quality we have we should be finishing them.

"We got the goal and you have to hang on until half-time but we lost our discipline.

"You tell the players the positions you want them to take up then somebody changes it on the pitch. They should wait until half-time if they want it changed.

"Individual mistakes are costing us big time. Now it will be well nigh impossible to get into third place. At this moment it's hard enough to make the top six."

Gers boss Walter Smith was forced to make a change minutes before kick-off as Jean-Claude Darcheville's hamstring flared up again during the warm-up.

That saw Boyd promoted to the starting line-up while Daniel Cousin - left out presumably with Thursday's big clash against Werder Bremen in mind - swapped his seat in the stand for one on the bench.

This was Boyd's big chance to stake his claim but it proved a frustrating first half for him. A body check on Boyd earned Zander Diamond a harsh booking after 11 minutes but the Dons were soon muscling their way forward.

Chris Maguire forced McGregor into a save with a strike that deflected off Gers stopper Carlos Cuellar.

That was soon followed by a lovely turn fromLovell that left Cuellar for dead. However, the striker was denied by McGregor who came out quickly to touch his shot around a post.

Two minutes later the keeper came to the rescue again, sprawling to his right to grab a powerful header from Diamond after a De Visscher's corner.

Dutch winger De Visscher was soon called into action at the other end, clearing Dailly's header off the line.

Adam then saw his precision chip from 25 yards crash off the bar with Steve Davis failing to fire home the rebound.

But Aberdeen were looking the more likely side and Lee Miller flicked Alan Maybury's probing pass forward perfectly on for Barry Nicholson.

The midfielder raced in on goal but again McGregor came up with a vital block.

There was nothing the keeper could do when Aberdeen grabbed a deserved lead after 27 minutes. Miller's headflick from De Visscher's corner took out the bigmen in defence and Lovell was given far too much space to head home.

The Dons should have extended their lead within three minutes when Miller's perfect throughball sent De Visscher scampering clear.

But he took far too long to pull the trigger, allowing Davie Weir to backtrack and block.

Aberdeen were punished for that miss in 38minutes as Dailly found space at the front post to hook home an Adam corner.

Boyd flashed a header wide from another Adam cross just before the break but Dons were not so lucky five minutes into the second half. Kirk Broadfoot swung in a searching cross and Adam ran clear of Andy Considine to send a glancing header into the net.

Nacho Novo - a half-time sub for Chris Burke - helped Gers press Aberdeen up front and the Spaniard soon turned up the heat with a shot that rattled Derek Soutar's post.

Calderwood then hooked Maguire for Sone Aluko and Rangers goal hero Adam came on for Lee McCulloch before Smith's side sealed the points with seven minutes left.

Novo was clearly barged by Maybury for a stonewall penalty after being picked out well by Boyd in the box.

The Scotland striker was not so impressive from the spot, hitting it straight at Soutar, but spared his blushes by nipping in on the rebound with Foster to bundle home.

Boyd will be eager to claim it and the defender will be just as keen to give it to him.

REF WATCH

KENNY CLARK was consistent all day and kept a tight rein on both teams. He was spot on with Rangers' late penalty but it was perhaps a little harsh to book Aberdeen stopper Zander Diamond for his first offence. Rating: 7/10.

MATCH STATS

SHOTS ON 10

SHOTS OFF 11

OFFSIDE 4

FOULS 9

CORNERS 9

BOOKINGS 0

SHOTS ON 5

SHOTS OFF 5

OFFSIDE 1

FOULS 15

CORNERS 4

BOOKINGS 1