Rangers win 2-0 to go one point off top spot
Aberdeen slump to 4-0 defeat against Hibernian
Rangers banished their recent away day blues with a solid 2-0 win at St Mirren.
Draws against Dundee and Hearts in their last two Scottish Premiership games away from Ibrox had blemished their title challenge, but Derek McInnes’s side were determined to leave Paisley without a mark on them.
The in-form striker Ryan Naderi scored with a soft penalty after 18 minutes before the returning skipper, Dan Neil, added a second just after the hour mark with a deflected strike to extend Rangers’ unbeaten run in all competitions to 12 games.
Rangers moved to within one point of the leaders, Celtic, having played the same number of fixtures, albeit Celtic can restore their four-point lead against Kilmarnock at home on Sunday before the the international break gives them another breather.
The Aberdeen manager Stephen Robinson insists he will face the challenge head on as his side go into the international break in real trouble at the wrong end of the table.
Hibernian started the evening three points behind Robinson’s side, but a dominant second-half performance in a 4-0 victory at Pittodrie allowed the Edinburgh club to overtake their hosts in 10th place on goal difference.
The hosts showed promise early in the game and the Hibs keeper Raphael Sallinger saved well from Jack Milne, who also hit the bar for Aberdeen before Jamie McGrath’s 25-yard strike found the target. Aberdeen went all-out in search of an equaliser, but quickly fell 2-0 behind to Callum Wright, sparking calls for Robinson’s head from the home support. Further strikes from Thibault Klidjé and Nicky Cadden completed the rout.
Robinson said: “It’s really, really disappointing, there’s no hiding away from it. It was an unacceptable performance and an unacceptable result. We haven’t taken our chances – Hibs had five or six chances and took four of them – [and] that’s always the difference in football. We got the result we deserved.
“It’s a difficult situation, difficult for myself, the players, and the club. I will keep fighting until told otherwise. We have to be better than that, that’s not acceptable. We have to get players who want to fight and try to get us out of this situation.”
Jim Goodwin, the home manager, hit out at the decision to award the penalty that cost Dundee United dear in a 1-1 draw against Motherwell at Tannadice.
The referee, Ryan Lee, had initially given a free-kick for offside in the early stages of the game. However, he was then advised by the VAR, Andrew Dallas, to have another look at an incident where Tawanda Maswanhise had gone down in the United box under a challenge by the home skipper, Dylan Tait. After checking the pitchside monitor, the referee pointed to the spot with the Motherwell captain, Lukas Fadinger, tucking the penalty away.
The hosts ultimately salvaged a point thanks to Jesse Randall’s goal but Goodwin insisted his side should have had all three. “It’s a poor decision for me,” he said. “I know it’s going to be subjective and people will have their own opinions on it, but I don’t know what Dylan Tait is meant to do.” Unsurprisingly, the Motherwell manager, Alfred Johansson, disagreed with Goodwin’s assessment, saying: “He’s on the ball and gets down from a tackle, and it’s a penalty.”
Simo Valakari was thrilled to give St Johnstone supporters a 2-1 victory over Dundee to celebrate after recent Perth struggles against their Tayside rivals.
Josh Campbell headed the home side in front after five minutes. The substitute Joe Westley replied early in the second half following a mix-up between the keeper Ross Sinclair and Cheick Diabate. Kai Fotheringham, on his first Premiership start for St Johnstone, netted a deflected winner on 72 minutes.
