Aberdeen FC maintained their remarkable unbeaten start to this Scottish Premiership campaign by toppling rivals Rangers 2-1 on an incident-packed night at Pittodrie to pile the pressure on Philippe Clement.
Goals from Nicky Devlin and Shayden Morris were enough for Jimmy Thelin’s men to keep pace at the top of the table and stretch the gap to their old rivals to a remarkable nine points.
Aberdeen hit the front on 31 minutes at a white-hot Pittodrie Jack Mackenzie’s ball in from the left was headed on by winger Topi Keskinen to the back post where Devlin was left alone to side-foot the ball into the top corner.
The Dons were then awarded a penalty after an on-field VAR review saw John Beaton penalise a handball from John Souttar from Keskinen’s shot from a corner kick, but Jamie McGrath scuffed his spot-kick into the ground as Jack Butland guessed correctly to grab hold of the tame effort from the normally reliable.
The home fans were left to wonder if that would prove a costly miss as a resurgent Rangers equalised in the second half after an excellent jinking run-and-shot from Nedim Bajrami went in off Dimitar Mitov's post to level things up.
Aberdeen responded with the spirit their Swedish coach has instilled into them and found the winning goal 16 minutes from time through substitute Shayden Morris, who bundled home after Devlin had hit the post through Butland's legs.
The pressure is sure to be ratcheted up on the under-fire Belgian after another bad night at the office, will he still be in the job come tomorrow?
Key Events
Jimmy Thelin lauds one key trait
Jimmy Thelin hailed the mental strength of his Aberdeen side as they took down Rangers to extend their unbeaten run.
The Dons went ahead through a Nicky Devlin goal and were pegged back by Nedim Bajrami before sub Shayden Morris netted a glory winner.
Aberdeen remain top of the table with Celtic and are now nine points ahead of Rangers.
Thelin proudly said: “Everyone is pushing each other at Cormack Park and Pittodrie to give each other positive energy. It is still a long-term project and we still have to get better.
“It was an emotional game. A lot of things happened today. There was different momentum. Our first half was one of our better ones and our intensity was really strong.
In the second half they had more momentum but we stayed in the game and stayed focused.
“We showed calmness even when things were not going exactly where we wanted but again the players who came on played their part.
“We find a way and I am so happy with the character of the team.
“The atmosphere in Pittodrie.
“Football is about emotions and the mental capacity, the strength of the team and trying to push each other.
“It’s a lot of things and I’m so happy that we are doing a lot of those things quite well.”
The former Elsborg refuses to get carried away and it remains one game at a time. He won’t talk about title fights and now the focus turns to Saturday’s Premier Sports Cup semi-final with Celtic. His team are now unbeaten in 16 games and their only draw came when they are from behind to draw with Celtic.
The Dons boss added: “For us, once again, it is about taking three points and we take it game by game. The fans can enjoy today but for us it is about how we recover and have new energy for Saturday.
“You cannot expect things, you have to fight. You have to find different things sometimes and it is the small things in tight games.
“We fight together and we know if we get the opportunity we have to go for it.
“I am optimistic and positive. We have to support our players and they also have to enjoy tonight then tomorrow we go into the next game.
Devlin scored and set-up the Dons winner. The Scotland international was a big figure in this win.
He stated: “Nicky trains well every day and has positive energy at Cormack Park. I am so happy for him. He tries so hard and how he fights for the team.”
Thelin post-match
It's a far rosier picture for the Aberdeen manager and he spoke to Sky Sports after a terrific win for his side.
It was a really nice evening, it was an emotional game, the whole game and there was a lot of things that happened, the fans were with us again. The players came into the game, again was there and making important things...but I enjoyed a lot.
How we performed in the first half was one of the best so far, I told the players the same how we attacked in different ways, and then they come back in the second half and were really good, but we stayed in the game, which was important.
It was two different halves, but how we played in different situations inside the game was really strong character.
More from Clement
The Rangers manager is under immense pressure after another bad night at the office, with his claims of luck not being on their side not washing with the supporters.
Rangers fan venom
The Rangers fans vented their frustrations at full-time on another sobering night for their team, with pundits capturing the venom being directed at the players and staff.
You can read more about it right here.
Talking Points
We won't go short of talking points from this massive midweek match and here are the major subjects under discussion from Pittodrie.
Boyd unequivocal
Sky Sports pundit Kris Boyd didn't hold back in his assessment of his former side and their manager Philippe Clement, with the punditry team holding a spirited discussion on the Belgian's tenure.
I think even the Rangers fans with blue-tinted glasses on can see through this now, this ain't working. You can understand if there's players getting better. Let's look at the improvement. Aberdeen deserved to win tonight. Heart 0-0 at the start of the season. Kilmarnock deserved to win against Rangers as well. The budgets are absolutely nowhere near Rangers. Even if you're downgrading and cutting back, it's a will and determination to go and win a game of football and Rangers are severely lacking that department right now.
Clement post-match
It's hugely disappointing to lose, of course, but this could be a game where you have draw or, on a good day when things fall your side, that you win, so we score a goal, one toe, or a toenail offside. Those moments are not on our side.First half, we started well, then Aberdeen took over, we struggled really hard in that way. Second half, we took the game in our hands. We get the chances, we don't score them and they score on the rare occasion that they came in these moments. We need to be more clinical in the final third to win these kinds of games and to have luck on your side, like with the offside it's a very disappointing oneI think this is one of our better performances until now, this season, with the new squad. All credit to Aberdeen also, the way they played...they are there, where they deserve to be. We are working hard to make things better on our side. I think this was one of the better performances of several players, and several new players and we need to build further on that.
Title talk played down
Aberdeen captain Graeme Shinnie played down talk of an Aberdeen title push, when asked by Sky Sports' Luke Shanley if Aberdeen were in a title race:
It's not even November yet so, yeah it's the old boring cliche but I think, especially right now for us two oldies, it's about getting the body going again. We've got Celtic on Saturday in another massive, important game so we'll just take it one game at a time.
Devlin post-match
Dons goalscorer Nicky Devlin was also speaking to the Sky Sports cameras. When asked if he thought his side could have gone in more than 1-0 up at half-time, the full-back said:
Yeah, I think we had a lot of momentum in the game, we penned Rangers in for large spells, we probably could have scored a few more, but it was good to go in in front.
We didn't start the second half too good, but managed to get through in the end.
The manager wants me to find myself in the box more, and yeah I managed to do that tonight and managed to keep it down, so it was good.
Shinnie post-match
The Aberdeen skipper was talking to Sky Sports after this incredible victory:
It was very good, all through everything, the fans, the place was absolutely rocking. It's probably the best I've seen it since my time here and backed up by another win which was important.
I thought, second half they came back into it and got their goal, and got a bit of momentum into their game, but it just shows the spirit and character that this team's got and we stemmed the tide and got our goal.
Full-time: Aberdeen 2-1 Rangers
It's full-time at Pittodrie and Aberdeen have maintained their unbeaten start to this campaign with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over their bitter rivals Rangers.
Goals from Nicky Devlin and Shayden Morris secure the three points for Jimmy Thelin, after Nedim Bajrami had equalised.
Aberdeen 2-1 Rangers.
Just wide
Rangers are throwing everything forward and Tavernier sees his header go just wide from Sterling's great delivery.
Dons free-kick
Nico Raskin is penalised for a foul on Besuijen before him and Jack MacKenzie square up, with the Belgian booked by John Beaton.
Four minutes added
It's another four minutes of added time, can Rangers bring on the late, late show, or will Aberdeen hold on for a brilliant home win.
Hagi cross
It's an easy take for the Aberdeen keeper as Ianis Hagi's cross from the right is gathered cleanly.
Mitov meets it
It's a wicked delivery from the corner kick which Mitov does well to get away with a punch.
Rangers corner
Slobodan Rubezic puts the ball behind from a deep cross and it's a late corner for the visitors.
Clement booked
Philippe Clement's night is going from bad to worse here as he goes into the book for something he's said to the referee.
Palaversa off target
It's a decent free-kick from Ante Palaversa sends it into a dangerous area, but it evades everyone and drifts out for a goal-kick.
Igamane on
It says something about the Rangers squad that they need to turn to a 21-year-old for a goal, but that's the situation as Hamza Igamane comes on to replace Dessers for the final 10 minutes or so.
Dons fans taunt floundering Phil
Aberdeen fans now taunt Clement with chants of "You're getting sacked in the morning". It's a brutal life being a football manager.
Mitov relieved
Rangers are desperately seeking another equaliser here and Hagi's ball in from the right is more up than out. Mitov comes to claim but is bumped by Dessers, who himself was nudged and the free-kick goes the way of the hosts.
Can Hagi dig Clement out?
Ianis Hagi is one of the men Philippe Clement has turned to in a bid to rescue Rangers. The Romanian, remember, was deemed surplus to requriements in the summer before a major U-turn from the Belgian.
Dons sub
Jamie McGrath is coming off to a standing ovation and he'll be replaced by Leighton Clarkson. 10 minutes to go plus stoppage time.
Ambrose receiving treatment
Dons sub Ambrose is receiving treatment after that aerial chalenge with Balogun, but he looks ok to continue.
Free-kick Aberdeen
It's another set piece opportunity for Aberdeen as Balogun goes into the book for a foul on Dons sub Ambrose.
Double sub for Rangers
Philippe Clement has turned to his bench in the aftermath, with Jefte and Ianis Hagi on for Bajrami and Lawrence.
GOAL: Aberdeen 2-1 Rangers
Aberdeen do re-take the lead as the pressure was just too much for the Rangers defence to bear.
The initial free-kick falls to edge of the area and a well-struck shot was saved by Butland, but Aberdeen kept the pressure up and work it back in through MacKenzie, Devlin pokes it through Butland's legs and off the post, but Shayden Morris is on hand to rifle home the rebound.
Aberdeen 2-1 Rangers
