Watch best of action as Rangers beat Aberdeen

Martin Dowden
BBC Sport Scotland at Ibrox

Rangers showed "domination with and without the ball", says manager Phillipe Clement, to reduce Celtic's lead in the Scottish Premiership to 13 points and extend Aberdeen's wretched winless run to 12 matches.

Hamza Igamane, an increasingly talismanic figure, delivered the vital moment once again with a composed finish for the opener and his 13th Rangers goal after a fast start by the hosts.

The striker, who earlier dinked inches past when clean through on goal, made no mistake after Sivert Heltne Nilsen needlessly gave the ball away in his own box.

Substitute Leon Balogun headed in a late back-post second from Clinton Nsiala's deep cross, having earlier hit an upright, and fellow replacement Cyriel Dessers guided in an even later third to seal the win.

"We played really well, with everybody working hard for the team," Clement said.

"You see more people start to understand things and we're collectively better. We kept pushing, as I demand, to score more and kill the belief of the opponent."

There was, again, some disquiet at Ibrox during the 55th minute as a minority of fans displayed banners, the general theme of which was 'Time for Change'.

However, there was no walkout protest, as occurred during the win over St Johnstone on Sunday.

There were missed chances, though. Aberdeen goalkeeper Ross Doohan denied Danilo and Igamane with fine saves, while Nedim Bajrami, Robin Propper and Vaclav Cerny all spurned opportunities.

Ragged Aberdeen struggled to get a grip of the game.

That said, from nowhere, Leighton Clarkson came within inches of beating Liam Kelly from the halfway line and Kevin Nisbet failed to connect from Graeme Shinnie's teasing delivery.

The Pittodrie side, who earlier in the campaign enjoyed a nine-point lead over the Ibrox club, are now 12 adrift of Philippe Clement's men. An astonishing turnaround.

Home comfort eases Rangers to another win

It was imperative to narrow that gap to Celtic after they dropped points on Tuesday. Anything else would have been intolerable to the Rangers fans.

Their side started fast and got the reward, but that vital second, then third goal, just wouldn't arrive until very late on.

Rangers' home record continues to impress, though. As does Igamane, whose goal return over the past few months as been an almighty positive.

Home form is not the issue, although they must continue to retain that focus and deliver maximum points at Ibrox. Then address the glaring problem or inconsistency on their travels.

There were small, muted displays of protest in the stands again at the position they are in and the general running of the club and that might remain with some convinced change is required.

Fans also await any news on recruitment but, as chief executive Patrick Stewart outlined, that will be limited to just one or two recruits.

The return of James Tavernier and Balogun will help, with the potential for further injury issues given Propper and Danilo had to be replaced.

Aberdeen struggle to break winless streak

Aberdeen graphic

Jimmy Thelin has enough credit in the bank for this winless run to not be put his Aberdeen position at risk.

That is an unusual scenario given they have now gone a club-record equalling 12 matches without a victory.

And it's also incredible that there has been a 21-point swing between these sides after Aberdeen's superb opening to this season.

The opening goal was completely avoidable. The nature of it suggested a lack of confidence but the visitors were too open at times and risked going further behind.

They did have moments, but didn't muster enough to put serious doubt in the minds of a Rangers side who are undoubtedly under pressure.

New signings will presumably assist in turning round their fortunes. But they remain in something of a rut and sides below them are closing in.

Saturday's Scottish Cup tie against Elgin City is a must-win, as they look to regroup and get back to something resembling the Aberdeen of the start of the campaign.

What they said

Clement satisfied with 'domination'

Rangers manager Philippe Clement: "[Hamza Igamane] is doing really well and we need to go on with this. He needs to do this all season, it's hard to get to the top but harder to stay there.

"I'm happy with the way Cyriel [Dessers] came in with a lot of energy and scoring a really good goal. That's a plus and also the players coming back from injury."

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin: "We have things to work on. We have to be more composed and find better rhythm. We had too many transitions against us.

"The fans' expectations are higher. We are in a challenging time right now, a mix of everything, we are in a bad run, some injuries and new players.

"We have a cup game and one week to the next league game. We need to find the rhythm and stabilise as a team."

'Players are fighting but we need to be better' - Thelin

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