Aberdeen 0-1 Rangers: Shankland penalty gives Rangers first league win | OneFootball

Glasgow Rangers bounced back from their “embarrassing” Thursday night defeat to Jablonec with a 1-0 win over Aberdeen this afternoon, to pick up their first league win of the season.

Lawrence Shankland netted the only goal of the game, and his first league goal in Rangers colours, in the 69th minute, converting from 12 yards after Djeidi Gassama won the penalty.

Kevin Nisbet appeared to have equalised late in the day, but his close-range header was ruled out for a foul in the build-up.

As it happened

Derek McInnes named four changes following his side’s embarrassing European exit on Thursday night, with Shankland, Kim Min-su, Findlay Curtis and Cammy Devlin replacing Vanja Dragojevic, Tochi Chukwuani, Daisuke Yokota and Ryan Don Naderi. Meanwhile, Aberdeen returned to action for the first time in two weeks, naming an unchanged XI from their 3-0 win over Dundee last time out.

Emmanuel Fernandez gave away a needless free-kick in the opening moments, which saw Dan Happe wriggle free at the back post before scooping his volley high and wide. Another chance followed for the hosts as Rangers’ defence parted like the Red Sea, allowing Mitchy Ntelo to get a shot away, which Ivan Pandur saved comfortably.

Happe was booked for a handball on the edge of his own area moments later, but Gassama could only fire the free-kick into the wall. Kim took on his first shot as a Rangers player in the 8th minute, but could only find the gloves of Maríus Müller. Next up was Curtis, who twisted and turned inside the area before curling his strike over the bar.

Connor Ronan took aim from distance shortly before the half-hour mark, winning his side a corner after the shot was blocked. He then delivered the set-piece, but Fernandez headed it away. Rangers won a corner of their own, which James Penrice whipped into the box; however, it was also cleared away.

Chris Cadden received the second yellow card of the afternoon when he clipped Penrice to stop a Rangers counterattack. He was quickly joined in the referee’s notebook by Curtis, who clattered into Happe inside the Dons’ half.

Rangers looked certain to take the lead shortly before half-time after an excellent run from Gassama seemed to set up Shankland, but an excellent last-ditch tackle from Afeez Aremu denied him. At the other end, Kevin Nisbet rose in the middle of the box only to see his header caught by Pandur.

Ronan was next to pick up a yellow card, following a foul in the middle of the park. Aremu was also booked, bringing the first half to a close.

Aberdeen made one change at the break, with former Southampton winger Stuart Armstrong replacing Tony Yogane. The cards continued to fly out of Matthew MacDermid’s pocket early in the second half, when Devlin was penalised for a bad foul.

Toyosi Olusanya became the fifth Aberdeen player to be shown a card, presenting Kim with a free-kick in a dangerous area, from which he forced a superb save from Müller. The hosts’ second change saw Lewis Smith replace Ntelo. An eighth yellow card of the match followed on the hour mark, when Dujon Sterling fouled Olusanya.

In the 67th minute, Gassama won a penalty for Rangers after being brought down by Happe inside the area. Shankland stepped up to the spot and smashed the ball into the top right corner to give Rangers the lead and score his first league goal of the season.

Kosta Nedeljkovic was then introduced for Rangers, replacing Penrice; Yokota also replaced Kim on the right flank. A third Aberdeen change would follow soon after, with Ayoub Mouloua replacing Ronan as the Dons hunted for an equaliser. Lewis Mayo was then shown a yellow card for a foul on Gassama, who had burst past him at pace.

Nisbet had a penalty claim of his own waved away in the 80th minute, after going to ground under slight pressure from Sterling at the back post. Moments later, though, the Aberdeen skipper headed home from close range despite Pandur’s best efforts to keep the hosts out with two superb saves; all the ‘Gers defenders seemed to switch off, allowing Nisbet to follow in on the rebound. However, it was disallowed for a foul on Sterling following a VAR review.

A double change followed for Rangers, with Naderi and Ben Godfrey replacing Shankland and Curtis as the visitors looked to see out the remainder of the match. A short break in play came moments later, as Pandur received treatment following a nasty aerial clash; thankfully for Rangers, he was able to carry on.

A long throw from Nesta Guiness-Walker looked to cause Rangers problems, but Fernandez was on hand to head it away, meaning Rangers took all three points back to Glasgow.