Rangers 2 - 0 Aberdeen

A quite shocking first half display by Aberdeen left them with an impossible task at Ibrox. An error by Solberg after four minutes gifted Rangers a dream start and they went on to run the Dons ragged for the next 41 minutes. By half time the Dons were 2-0 down with a mountain to climb. They then put in a credible second half display, but it was too little, too late and left the supporters wondering what might have been.

Aberdeen kicked off in an unfamiliar 5-4-1 formation with Dadi being the lone striker and the Dons hoping to use the pace of Mackie and Winters to aid them. The Dons got off to the worst possible start however when a slack pass by Solberg allowed Tore Andre Flo in to open the scoring. De Boer went close to adding to the tally a minute later when he headed a free kick inches wide of Kjaer?s right hand post. Arveladze had another crack in the 9th minute when he hit a fierce drive from 22 yards. Fortunately for the Dons the effort went over the bar. Aberdeen?s first chance came two minutes later when Winters did exactly the same with a 30 yard free kick.

A mistake by Mackie gave Flo another chance in the 14th minute however McGuire was on hand to block the effort and a minute later he cleared again as the Dons were put under the cosh. The Dons went further behind in the 20th minute when Flo collected a ball despite looking suspiciously offside and fired it beyond Kjaer. Five minutes later, Arveladze beat Solberg for pace and Reyna fired his cross over the bar. In the 27th minute Solberg failed to stop the Georgian again and he rifled a shot against the post. It was all one-way traffic at this stage with Rangers ripping Aberdeen apart on the left hand side as Solberg struggled to cope with the pace of Arveladze.

Winters was booked for a foul on Ricksen in the 34th minute and Rangers almost extended their lead from the free kick. Kjaer made a point blank save to deny Flo then Konterman hit the rebound wide. A minute later Aberdeen got up field, but Winters effort was easily saved by Klos. Rangers broke from this and should have added a third, but excellent goalkeeping by Kjaer denied Arveladze a shooting chance. Five minutes later the Georgian curled an effort wide of the target and in the 43rd minute Kjaer made another brilliant save after Flo was given acres of room to turn and shoot. Dadi was booked in the 44th minute for a foul on Amoruso as the half time whistle came as welcome relief to the visitors.
[audio:Ebbe on the 1st half]

Surprisingly Aberdeen made no changes at half time, but they made a positive start to the second half and won their first corner of the match in the 49th minute. Earlier Darren Young was booked in the opening minute for dissent. A good run by Mackie in the 53rd minute forced a second corner, which ended with Winters shooting inches high and raising the hopes 0f the 1,100 Dons fans in the stadium. Two minutes later Flo should have sealed his hat trick after a brilliant turn he drove his effort wide of the target. Anderson replaced Solberg in the 58th minute.

On the hour mark Darren Young broke forward on the left and was pushed off the ball. To everyone?s amazement the referee waved play on and the chance was gone. Two minutes later Flo was quite rightly denied a penalty and the Dons once again broke forward only for Klos to cut out the cross from Mackie. Rangers had regained their composure, but were finding themselves up against a better-organised team. This improvement was shown as Konterman was forced to shoot harmlessly from thirty yards.

Derek Young replaced Dadi in the 65th minute and the Dons reverted to a 4-4-2 formation. Mackie should have pulled one back for the Dons in the 72nd minute, but his shot was well saved by Klos from 12 yards. Derek Young had a chance of a consolation late on, but his header was weak and went wide of the target. The second half display was excellent, but it really made you wonder what might have been if this form had been shown from the 1st minute rather than the 46th.
[audio:Ebbe on the 2nd half]