Rangers vs Aberdeen. Scottish Premiership.
Ibrox StadiumAttendance50,010.
Match report as Rangers beat Aberdeen 1-0 at Ibrox; Kemar Roofe breaks deadlock just three minutes after coming on as a substitute; defending champions have eight matches to play in the Scottish Premiership as they bid to overtake Celtic
Monday 7 March 2022 15:41, UK
Giovanni van Bronckhorst assured Kemar Roofe he still has a big part to play in Rangers' Premiership title defence after he stepped off the bench to score a vital winning goal against Aberdeen.
The 29-year-old has found game time limited in recent months due to a combination of injury and the form of top scorer Alfredo Morelos.
However, Van Bronckhorst took the Colombian off - much to the frustration of some home supporters who booed the decision - and replaced him with Roofe in the 78th minute of Saturday's match at home to Aberdeen.
The substitution proved inspired, however, as the former Leeds attacker netted his first league goal in three months within three minutes of entering the field to secure a 1-0 win for the champions.
"Kemar is very important," said Van Bronckhorst. "In the last months he has struggled a little bit with some injuries but he is still working hard on the training ground to be ready.
"I gave him a compliment in the locker room because it is not easy, especially for the players who haven't played a lot in recent weeks, to keep training hard and wait for your chance.
"His chance came against Aberdeen and he made the difference so I am really pleased for him. Not only for him but he represents the players who haven't played a lot. In the coming weeks, when we will also play again in Europe, there are a lot of games to be played and we need to use everyone in that moment."
Rangers made three changes from their midweek win at St Johnstone as Borna Barisic, Fashion Sakala and Ryan Jack replaced Leon Balogun, John Lundstram and Scott Arfield.
There were two tweaks to the Aberdeen side that lost to Hearts on Wednesday, with Connor McLennan and Ross McCrorie taking the place of Scott Brown and Matty Kennedy.
Rangers threatened after two minutes when Alfredo Morelos fizzed a low shot just wide from the edge of the box.
The hosts, who were struggling to get a clear sight of goal, created a decent opening in the 23rd minute when Ryan Kent crossed to the back post but Sakala sliced his volley high and wide
The closest Rangers went before the break was in the 32nd minute when Glen Kamara burst into the danger area and drove a low ball across the face of goal which was turned against the post by a cluster of Aberdeen defenders.
Three minutes later Sakala headed harmlessly wide from a Jack cross.
Sakala had the first chance of the second half in the 50th minute but his diving header from a Barisic cross sailed high over the bar.
The Zambian forward had another decent opportunity in the 57th minute when Aribo nodded a Connor Goldson cross down into his path but he fired his half volley over the the bar from 15 yards out. A minute later, Sakala met a Barisic cross at the back post and headed into the side-netting.
That chance was to prove the last involvement in the match for both Barisic and Sakala as they were replaced by Arfield and Balogun.
Remarkably, the first shot on target for either side came in the 71st minute but home midfielder Jack saw his low attempt from just inside the box easily gathered by Joe Lewis.
The home support were growing increasingly frustrated as the match wore on and they booed the decision of Van Bronckhorst to take off top scorer Morelos and replace him with Roofe in the 78th minute.
It proved an inspired substitution, as just three minutes after entering the fray, Roofe turned in the only goal of the game from close range after James Tavernier headed Kamara's cross from the left down into his path.
Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin:
"I am extremely disappointed to take nothing from the game. I thought the overall performance merited a point.
"I am not going to say we should have won the game as we didn't carry enough attacking threat in the final third, but I thought, with the shape and structure defensively, the team were brilliant.
"Joe Lewis only had a couple of shots on target to deal with over 90 minutes, which is great credit to the boys.
"I am extremely disappointed with the goal we conceded, particularly as we defended pretty much every cross that came into the box really well.
"I think we deserved a 0-0. Rangers won't have enjoyed that 90 minutes as we didn't make life easy for them."
Rangers host Crvena Zvezda in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 clash on Thursday (8pm), while Aberdeen entertain Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership on March 19 (3pm).
