Gers Down Dons as Thelin’s misery continues
Hamza Igamane continued his hot streak as his early goal set Rangers on their way to all three points in a convincing 3-0 victory over a hapless Aberdeen. Igamane gave Rangers a 1-0 lead going into the second half and after a flurry of missed chances, Leon Balogun and Cyriel Dessers completed the win with two late goals in stoppage time. Rangers quickly settled into their rhythm, dominating the early stages of the match. Hamza Igamane has been the man of the moment for Rangers in the last few months and he could’ve put the Gers ahead inside 10 minutes. Kevin Nisbet was dispossessed in the middle of the park and Vaclav Cerny instantly picked out Igamane. With just the keeper to beat the forward was already wheeling away in celebration but his effort whistled by the post to keep the game level. Aberdeen didn’t learn from that early warning however and this time Igamane made no mistake. Nilsen failed to control a simple pass from Doohan and Cerny pounced on the make-shift defender. He drove into the Aberdeen area and cut it back to Diomande. His initial effort was blocked but Igamane was there to hammer the ball into the net to give Rangers the early lead. Aberdeen offered little in the first half but Leighton Clarkson almost produced a moment of magic before the half-hour. He jumped on a loose ball inside the centre circle and went for a spectacular lob that almost had Kelly beat but he scampered back to just keep the ball out. Rangers responded instantly and Danilo will feel he should’ve gotten the second of the night. Hagi had been controlling the game and slipped a through ball into the striker that split the Aberdeen defence. Danilo lifted his strike but Doohan was out quick to deny him a goal. Half-time: Rangers 1 – 0 Aberdeen Rangers started the second half continuing to ask questions of the Aberdeen back-line. Hagi’s strike from the edge of the area looked destined to beat Doohan but it whizzed off the crossbar to keep Aberdeen in the game. Aberdeen were hanging on as the half progressed and Rangers pushed for a second. Both Hagi and Bajrami had efforts from the edge of the area that only just missed the mark. Jimmy Thelin tried to breathe some new life into his lacklustre forward line by bringing on Duk and Morris with Kevin Nisbet and Keskinen putting in another disappointing performance. The changes failed to change the momentum however with Aberdeen continuously turning the ball over with slack pass after slack pass. With ten minutes to go Aberdeen tried to throw bodies forward in an attempt to grab an unlikely equaliser. Shayden Morris was lively when he came on but familiar problems in front of goal arose again for Aberdeen as they failed to create any clear chances that troubled Liam Kelly. Rangers finally thought they had a second minutes from full-time when Leon Balogun glanced a header from a corner but his effort struck the post much to the dismay of the Union Bears behind the goal. With minutes of the 7 added left, Rangers finally put the game to bed. Tavernier’s corner went over everyone but Nsiala was on hand to put the ball back into the area and Balogun rose highest at the back post to rubber stamp the 3 points for Rangers. With seconds left, Dessers then compounded the misery for Thelin’s men. Dorrington let the ball bounce over him and then slipped which let Dessers run at Topers. He cut onto his left and drove it low and past Doohan to complete the game. Full-time Rangers 3 – 0 Aberdeen Teams Rangers: Kelly (GK); Ridvan, Propper (Balogun 74), Nsiala, Jefte, Diomande, Raskin (C), Hagi (Tavernier 78), Cerny, Danilo (Bajrami 46), Igamane (Dessers 88) Aberdeen: Doohan (GK); Devlin, Shinnie, Nilsen, McGarry (Jensen 71), Tobers, Clarkson, Okkels (Polvara 71), Palaversa (Dorrington 64), Keskinen (Morris 66), Nisbet (Duk 64) Referee: Kevin Clancy, Graeme Stewart and David Roome. Nick Walsh (VAR)
Dundee 3-3 Celtic: Player ratings from Dens Park
Oluwaseun Adewumi’s shines against another Old Firm side whilst Auston Trusty can have no complaints. Dundee 3-4-2-1 Trevor Carson (capt) Continues to put his body on the line but should have done better collecting Kyogo’s low cross for second. 6 Clark Robertson Dealing with such a potent Celtic attack is no easy job but confusion with Carson leads to Celtic regaining lead. 6 Ryan Astley Kept Idah quiet all night and did little wrong despite the scoreline. 7 Aaron Donnelly Did not come off too badly in duel with Kyogo and got the better of Trusty to score an all important goal. 8 Josh Mulligan Lovely feet and worked absolutely tirelessly down the right hand side. His deflected cross for an own goal saw him end the night with an assist. 8 Ethan Ingram His biggest impact comes in attack and has shown he can mix it with the best taking on full backs. However should have tracked McCowan for opener and was beaten by Kyogo’s ball for second. 5 Mo Sylla Strong on the ball and continues to be a good outlet to build attacks. Unfortunate however to give away penalty with handball in dying moments. 6 Cesar Garza Built on a solid first outing for more of the same. A nicely balanced skillset and his tackle helped set Simon Murray off for the counter. 7 Finlay Robertson No Cameron no problem as the midfielder bagged not one, but fine assists on the night. A physical presence giving Celtic’s defenders no rest. 8 Oluwaseun Adewumi Almost followed McGregor to the bathroom at half time such was his proficiency in man marking. Attacked with verve and scored a terrific goal after a tidy bit of footwork to get space from Johnston. What a job Dundee have done to extend his loan. 8 Simon Murray Continues to be every defender’s most irritating opponent. Looking for contact and earning his side free kicks up the park. As mentioned, burst of pace helped create second. Yellow for abusing the referee put a dampener on the striker’s evening. 7 SUBSTITUTES: Seb Palmer-Houlden (for Murray 82′) n/a; Lyall Cameron (for Robertson 87′) Bedbound with illness this week but part of bench that had too little time to make a positive impact and were not at fault for equaliser n/a; Scott Tiffoney (for Garza 87′) n/a. Celtic (4-1-4-1) Kasper Schmeichel Little he could do about first and third but arguably could have covered himself with a little more glory as Adewumi’s effort slipped past him. 6 Alistair Johnston A player who has become almost irreplaceable for Rodgers, filling in at right back, winger, centre mid, you name it. However as he will no doubt know, little errors cost games and he did not cover openside of goal well enough for second. 7 Auston Trusty Performance tonight will give Kilmarnock and Young Boys a little boost. Almost gave away a penalty before being beaten in the air by Donnelly. 4 Cameron Carter-Vickers A strong presence in the first half but look unrecognisable after the break as he began to fade. Unlucky but conceded an own goal all the same. 5 Greg Taylor Lacks the same impact Johnston has down the right and wasn’t helped by a lack of chemistry with Yang. Was launching himself into tackles by the way, giving the impression of desperation. 5 Callum McGregor (capt) Barely got a sniff due to Adewumi’s marking but looked threatening with rare opportunities when he managed to get away. 6 Yang Hyun-Jun God loves a trier and the winger continues to give everything but often without meaningful end product. However he grabbed a much needed goal for his efforts after getting his positioning spot on the score a header. 6 Paulo Bernardo Game was his for the taking if he was looking to play himself into a more permanent starting berth but failed to grab it. Agonisingly close with a header that hit the crossbar but being taken off after an hour tells you about the belief Rodgers had in his ability to create a winner. Booked before coming off. 6 Luke McCowan An early goal gave Celtic a much needed head start. Found himself filling in a right back with Johnston went forward as his impact lessened before being subbed off to applause from both sets of fans. 6 Kyogo Furuhashi Even on his quieter days Kyogo is a different class. Couple of crosses not met by anyone before Yang finally made one count. Electric movement kept Dundee on their toes. Impact lessened when moved up front. 7 Adam Idah Another difficult evening for the striker whose last league goal dates back to November. Needs to show more of the player who won the Scottish Cup Final last year. 5 SUBSTITUTES: Arne Engels (for Bernardo 61′) Not a brilliant first half hour but delivered when it mattered to rescue a point with penalty 7; Nicolas Kuhn (for Idah 61′) Immediate impact before shot gave Celtic the penalty 7; Reo Hatate (for McCowan 61′) Did not quite match output of previous two but ammended sloppy passing in midfield 6; Luis Palma (for Taylor 71′) A couple of spurts down the left but not much more 6; Alex Valle (for Yang 71′) Game at that stage did not seem to require his contributions 6.