McLeish in cruise control

RANGERS can never be quite sure of what sort of madness will befall them when they arrive in Aberdeen, but they left the north- east last night with their players, and their defence of the championship, unscathed.

There was a very real threat to Fernando Ricksen when a supporter ran on to the pitch to assault him, but Rangers were also in collective danger of losing their unblemished start to the Premierleague. In the end neither the Dutchman nor the defence of the title was really troubled.

The scoreline looks better for Aberdeen supporters than the match did. Steve Paterson was merely echoing the majority view when he later conceded that the result flattered his side. Eric Deloumeaux's injury-time header meant that for the closing seconds Rangers were only one goal away from surrendering two precious points, but it would have been a travesty if they had done so.

From a goal down to Aberdeen they swept to 3-1 up and only two fine saves from goalkeeper David Preece prevented the scoreline from becoming embarrassing.

For a match with five goals this one was unusual. It contained passages of busy drama and other long spells that were sleepy and devoid of incident. Had play continued to be as fragmented as the opening 20 minutes Setanta, who were broadcasting it live, could have pulled the plug and spared their viewers' senses.

When Aberdeen then took an unlikely lead, and threatened to add to it, the game's ignition key had been turned, but the retaliation by Rangers was so swift and decisive that they were quickly ahead and in control.

After they went 2-1 up there were more disciplinary issues than football ones. When Phil McGuire and Michael Ball squared up referee Mike McCurry booked an innocent bystander, Russell Anderson. The mistake was soon realised and the caution rescinded, but that, and the later attempted assault on Ricksen, added to McCurry's unfortunate history at Pittodrie.

As a referee there he has been struck by a coin in a Celtic match, been embroiled in the Ricksen-Darren Young karate kick row, and had to lead these two teams off the pitch after coins were thrown at Robbie Winters and Aberdeen casuals invaded the trackside. If he has any sense McCurry will claim to have a wedding on the next time he is appointed to this fixture.

It all started so peacefully. The game struggled to find a rhythm and Rangers' sluggish moves were broken up by Aberdeen's tenacious play before they went on to snatch the opening goal which was to test Rangers' nerve and - more importantly - bring the match to life.

David Zdrilic has burly menace and a respectable scoring record. Most must have been more impressively executed than the one that put Rangers behind here. He broke clear behind debutant Henning Berg on to a McGuire pass and was one-on-one with Stefan Klos. Zdrilic stabbed his shot into the German's body, but the ball rebounded back to him and struck his chest so forcefully that it bounced past the goalkeeper into the goal.

In their best spell of the match Aberdeen threatened to extend their lead. Darren Mackie struck a fierce cross over the face of the Rangers' goal which was too fast for a Scott Booth connection. When Lovenkrands then fell in obvious pain, after an innocuous brush with Anderson, Rangers' problems seemed likely to intensify. Instead, switching Ronald de Boer into Lovenkrands' role and putting Steven Thompson up front invigorated Rangers and two quick goals shot them into the lead.

McGuire had barged into Mols, conceding a free-kick around 30 yards out. Ball's left-foot shot crashed off the junction of crossbar and post. The rebound fell for de Boer to nod in from eight yards. For Rangers' second, Mols wriggled the ball free from a pack of defenders to give Mikel Arteta a clear shot inside Preece's right- hand post.

Rangers never once looked like relinquishing their lead and the second half became a trial for Aberdeen. Only two marvellous saves from Preece kept them in contention as Rangers came close with shots from Thompson and Arteta.

The lead edged up to 3-1 when Mols turned McGuire at the edge of the area and hit a low shot inside the post. The ball had been fed to him by Ricksen, a minute after the supporter's attempted attack.

Zdrilic saw a header come off the underside of the bar, but there was to be no rally by Aberdeen. They made no further impression until the final minute. Zdrilic's header was hooked away by Ball but Eric Deloumeaux nodded it back and it was judged to have crossed the line before Arteta's clearance.

Subs: McNaughton for Mackie 61, Clark for McQuilken 76, Deloumeaux for Heikkinen 78.

Not used: Hutton, Hinds.

Booked: McGuire 44.

Referee: M McCurry.

Subs: Thompson for Lovenkrands 33, Vanoli for de Boer 54, Malcolm for Berg 74 .

Not used: McGregor, Hughes.

Booked: Ball 44.

Attendance: 16,348.

Copyright 2003 SMG Sunday Newspapers Ltd.
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