Aberdeen 0-1 Rangers
Shankland (69′ pen)
Lawrence Shankland’s second-half penalty eased the pressure on under-fire Rangers as they secured a crucial three points at Pittodrie.
In a game lacking quality, the Rangers captain stayed cool to convert his right-footed spot-kick high past Marius Müller after Dan Happe lunged in on Djeidi Gassama in the 69th minute.
Aberdeen looked to have fought their way back into the match when Kevin Nisbet headed home in the 82nd minute. However, Derek McInnes and his side breathed a sigh of relief when an on-field review ruled that Nisbet had pushed Dujon Sterling moments before turning the ball into the net.
McInnes got the response he needed following Rangers’ midweek exit from Europe against FK Jablonec. Having picked up their first win of the campaign, Rangers will look to build momentum during another tough away fixture at the Falkirk Stadium on Wednesday.
Aberdeen: Muller, Cadden, Mayo, Happe, Guinness-Walker, Aremu, Ronan (Mouloua 73′) Yogane (Armstrong 46′) Olusanya, Ntelo (Smith 63′) Nisbet.
Rangers: Pandur, Sterling, Fernandez, Makhanya, Penrice (Nedeljkovic 72′) Neil, Devlin, Minsu (Yokota 72′) Curtis (Godfrey 86′) Gassama, Shankland (Naderi 86′)
