Rangers 3-0 Aberdeen: the Ibrox Slaughterhouse

Morning everyone, Rangers turned Aberdeen into mutton steaks last night with a solid, if profligate, performance. Two late goals eventually put the game to the bed, although I think it should have been much more comfortable.

Looking back at my analysis pre-game, I think I underestimated just how poorly Aberdeen are playing at the moment. The results are one thing, you don't get a run like that playing well. But they really cannot do anything right at the minute and that was evident last night. It reminded me of Rangers in early 2020, we all remember the team going to Dubai in January and coming back looking like they'd never seen a ball before. This Aberdeen team is unrecognisable as the side that beat Rangers 2-1 at Pittodrie, while dominating the game.

The first half was a little bit chaotic from Rangers overall, similar to St Johnstone in a way. Pleasingly though, we did a better job of keeping the ball in the final third, which may have been partially due to Aberdeen's lack of confidence in their own press. Off the ball we were very direct in our pressing, it did look like Aberdeen might find a way through sometimes but I felt like Ridvan especially had a great night of stepping in and winning the ball back on our right just as Aberdeen started to get forward.

The early pressure paid dividends as it led to the first goal. A loose touch by the Aberdeen left centre half invited Cerny on, who took the ball and cut it back from the by-line. Diomande's shot was blocked and it fell for Igamane, who seemed to have the freedom of Ibrox to pick his spot. He'd missed a good chance 1 on 1 early in the game but it certainly didn't affect him, he placed the ball calmly into the bottom corner as the Aberdeen defence flailed futilely.

1-0 and we really deserved it for the way we'd gone about the game. Aberdeen had some half-chances in the first half, but considering the closest they came to scoring was a shot from near the half way line. It's fair to say we restricted them in our own third.

Danilo probably should have made it 2 after a great Hagi ball put him in on goal. He tried to lift it over the keeper and it was saved well. Igamane had a great effort saved after combining well with his strike partner.

When half time came, the only concern was Danilo. He'd gone down late on in the half for a long time. Surprise surprise, he didn't emerge for the second. Nedim Bajrami was introduced, I thought he looked very sloppy to be honest. When you consider that Danilo is a striker by trade, out of the 2 of them it was definitely the Brazilian that looked after the ball in the final third.

I thought we lacked the intensity and directness of the first 45 minutes in the second half. Similar to the game on Sunday. I will say that Aberdeen already looked beaten, so that might have contributed to the players taking the foot off the gas. And that's not to say we didn't make chances, Cerny had a great opportunity to make it two after coming inside on his favoured left foot. But the team didn't hunt Aberdeen down off the ball with the same determinedness as before, energy levels could also be a factor there.

Given the lack of threat from Aberdeen, it worked out in our favour. Although there were a few situations in transition when Diomande/Raskin had to make a tackle to stop a 4 on 3 break. That's not really something you want to see happening consistently, but it showed that we were committing bodies forward looking for that third goal.

The next big disappointment in the game was Robin Propper's injury. He went down with around 15 minutes to go and it was clear his race was run. Thankfully Balogun has just returned from injury and came on to replace the Dutchman. Tavernier made his injury return shortly after, replacing Hagi.

Balogun nearly made an immediate impact as he hit the post from a Rangers corner not long after being introduced. He had another shot cleared off the line after Nsiala recycled the ball well in the second phase from a corner.

It was third time lucky for the Nigerian as yet again Nsiala recycled the ball well from a corner, and his cross found Balogun at the back post who rose highest and planted his header firmly into the net, past an overworked Ross Doohan.

2-0 and you couldn't say it wasn't deserved, only one team had been trying to score in the second half. There was time for a third goal too, a clearance was misjudged by an Aberdeen defender on halfway. Dessers, introduced for Igamane, bore down on the last defender and with a quick shimmy and shot found the bottom left corner to help the score-line reflect the balance of the game.

The referee put Aberdeen out of their misery with the final whistle and that was that. 3 goals and 3 points for Rangers. With that it looks like Rangers will absolutely finish as the second best team in Scotland this season. It's nice to know that we've fended off Aberdeen's credible challenge for 2nd, but 2nd is nothing for Rangers so I don't see much to get excited about until we can put up some kind of consistent away form.

To hand out some plaudits, Clinton Nsiala deserves praise for his recent run in the team. When you look at the way we've defended this season, having a youngster come in and be solid isn't something to turn our noses up at. Last night was his best performance as his passes from the back helped us break the lines of Aberdeen's press and turn defence into attack quickly. His cross for the second goal was genuinely brilliant. And the main thing is, he defended confidently, completely unflustered by any of Aberdeen's attacks.

An additional injury concern is Oscar Cortes. He missed the game with a "small problem" according to the manager. I've got no issues with him as a player, he's had great snippets in his limited minutes. But that obligation to buy in his deal really looks more and more ominous as the weeks go on. There's talk of shifting Matondo this week, but losing one body from the treatment table only to replace him with a more expensive one isn't the business we need right now.

Another home game awaits at the weekend with Fraserburgh at home in the Scottish cup. That must be a chance to start Bailey Rice given his apparent ascension to the first team in recent weeks. More on that on Sunday morning though.

Have a good day everyone, let's be pleased Rangers haven't spoiled our week so far.