Match ends, Rangers 0, Aberdeen 0.
Rangers 0-0 Aberdeen: Hosts' Ibrox winning streak ends
- From the section Scottish Premiership
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Rangers' eight-game home winning streak in the Scottish Premiership was ended by a superb Aberdeen defensive display.
Steven Gerrard's men struggled to prise the visitors open and now trail leaders Celtic by four points, having failed to win two of their last three matches.
The Pittodrie side left Ibrox with a deserved draw that could have been a victory had Sam Cosgrove converted a one-on-one in the first half.
Aberdeen move within three points of Motherwell in the battle for third.
Derek McInnes' team have now won just one of their last six league games, but will take huge encouragement from this performance.
Rangers lack creative spark
Rangers welcomed back top scorer Alfredo Morelos for his first start of the year after injury and suspension but the Colombian was kept in check by a well-drilled Aberdeen defence.
And when Morelos did give his markers the slip, Joe Lewis rescued Aberdeen with a terrific second-half save.
Aberdeen had been booed off in their last game, a dreary scoreless draw at St Mirren that extended their winless away run in the Premiership to five matches.
Yet they rose to the Ibrox occasion with relish. They had the better of the first half and should have led when Cosgrove galloped clear from halfway after dispossessing Nikola Katic.
The striker looked set to claim his 22nd goal of the season but a leaden touch knocked the ball too far and Allan McGregor raced out to gather at his feet.
McGregor had earlier tipped over a Lewis Ferguson header at full stretch as Aberdeen probed for an opener.
Rangers slowly began to gain a foothold and Steven Davis' strike forced Lewis to claw the ball away from his bottom corner, with the keeper then batting away a Scott Arfield header.
Rangers stepped up the pressure in the second half but it was possession with no cutting edge. Arfield had a shot deflected wide and Lewis repelled a Borna Barisic curling effort after superbly turning Morelos' close-range drive over the bar.
The hosts threw on new signings Ianis Hagi and Florian Kamberi in the closing stages to little effect.
Indeed, Aberdeen came closest to finding a breakthrough from Ash Taylor's thumping header that brought out the best in McGregor.
'Expect more title twists' - reaction
Rangers manager Steven Gerrard: "I think we are missing a spark in the final third. Not just today, over the four games we have come back. And we need to keep going because I believe there will be more twists and turns."
Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes: "It wasn't perfect because we haven't won but it was a good performance. We certainly deserved the draw and I thought we had the best chances."
Line-ups
Rangers
- 1McGregor
- 25PolsterSubstituted forKamberiat 83'minutes
- 6GoldsonBooked at 61mins
- 19Katic
- 31BarisicBooked at 16mins
- 37ArfieldBooked at 68minsSubstituted forHagiat 77'minutes
- 10Davis
- 18KamaraSubstituted forOjoat 66'minutes
- 17Aribo
- 20Morelos
- 14Kent
Substitutes
- 2Tavernier
- 4Edmundson
- 7Hagi
- 11Ojo
- 13Foderingham
- 21Barker
- 23Kamberi
Aberdeen
- 1LewisBooked at 76mins
- 2Logan
- 14Taylor
- 5McKennaBooked at 72mins
- 4Considine
- 22Ojo
- 17McGeouchBooked at 56minsSubstituted forGallagherat 62'minutes
- 23KennedySubstituted forDevlinat 88'minutes
- 19FergusonBooked at 26mins
- 10McGinnSubstituted forCampbellat 88'minutes
- 16Cosgrove
Substitutes
- 6Devlin
- 8Hernández
- 11Hedges
- 20Cerny
- 21Gallagher
- 24Campbell
- 25Anderson
- Referee:
- Andrew Dallas
- Attendance:
- 50,012
Match Stats
Home TeamRangersAway TeamAberdeen
- Possession
- Home53%
- Away47%
- Shots
- Home16
- Away4
- Shots on Target
- Home5
- Away2
- Corners
- Home10
- Away1
- Fouls
- Home9
- Away18
Live Text
Full Time
Second Half ends, Rangers 0, Aberdeen 0.
Attempt blocked. Nikola Katic (Rangers) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Connor Goldson (Rangers) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Sam Cosgrove (Aberdeen).
Foul by Alfredo Morelos (Rangers).
(Aberdeen) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution
Substitution, Aberdeen. Dean Campbell replaces Niall McGinn.
Substitution
Substitution, Aberdeen. Michael Devlin replaces Matthew Kennedy.
Attempt missed. Ryan Kent (Rangers) right footed shot from the left side of the box is high and wide to the left.
Substitution
Substitution, Rangers. Florian Kamberi replaces Matt Polster.
Attempt blocked. Ianis Hagi (Rangers) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Joe Aribo (Rangers) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Funso Ojo (Aberdeen).
Foul by Connor Goldson (Rangers).
Sam Cosgrove (Aberdeen) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt blocked. Alfredo Morelos (Rangers) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Substitution
Substitution, Rangers. Ianis Hagi replaces Scott Arfield.
Corner, Rangers. Conceded by Niall McGinn.
Booking
Joe Lewis (Aberdeen) is shown the yellow card.
Booking
Scott McKenna (Aberdeen) is shown the yellow card.
Attempt saved. Ash Taylor (Aberdeen) header from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Booking
Scott Arfield (Rangers) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Scott Arfield (Rangers).
Jon Gallagher (Aberdeen) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Substitution
Substitution, Rangers. Sheyi Ojo replaces Glen Kamara.
Attempt missed. Matthew Kennedy (Aberdeen) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the right.
Corner, Rangers. Conceded by Andrew Considine.
Brandon Barker (Rangers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Matthew Kennedy (Aberdeen).
Substitution
Substitution, Aberdeen. Jon Gallagher replaces Dylan McGeouch.
Booking
Connor Goldson (Rangers) is shown the yellow card.
Connor Goldson (Rangers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Sam Cosgrove (Aberdeen).
Attempt saved. Borna Barisic (Rangers) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
Foul by Sam Cosgrove (Aberdeen).
Connor Goldson (Rangers) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Corner, Rangers. Conceded by Joe Lewis.
Attempt saved. Alfredo Morelos (Rangers) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Booking
Dylan McGeouch (Aberdeen) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
