Ibrox View: 24y/o back to his best in 4-0 win – Three things learned in Rangers v Aberdeen
Rangers put in a fantastic performance on Sunday as they secured a 4-0 win over third-placed Aberdeen at Ibrox.
The victory leaves Rangers with an 11-point advantage over Celtic in second, after Neil Lennon’s side could only draw 2-2 with Hibernian on Saturday.
Steven Gerrard’s side opened the scoring early on through a Ryan Kent stunner, with Kemar Roofe making it 2-0 before half-time.
Scott Arfield’s deflected effort made it 3-0 on 49 minutes, with a James Tavernier penalty completing the scoring.
Here are three things we learned:
Ryan Kent is back to his best
Without a goal since September until Sunday, Kent gave a timely reminder of his quality with a brilliant performance. The 24-year-old gave Rangers the lead with a brilliant solo effort, rolling the ball through the Aberdeen defender’s legs before scoring from 25 yards out.
There was a slight deflection on the strike, but that should take nothing away from what was an amazing piece of skill. Kent was not done there too and provided the assist for Arfield to make it 3-0, following good work with Alfredo Morelos.
Rangers are defensive juggernaut
Under Gerrard the improvement defensively has been impressive, but his side are taking that to another level this season. Sunday’s win was their sixth consecutive clean sheet in the league, with Rangers not having conceded in the Scottish Premiership since September (via WhoScored).
As was the case against Hamilton Academical, Leon Balogun partnered Connor Goldson and the Nigerian international looked very comfortable. Filip Helander has not appeared since his horror show against Benfica and looks to have a fight on his hands to win back his place.
Rangers are title favourites
Even if some of the pundits continue to back Celtic, Rangers are definitely the favourites for the Scottish Premiership title. Prior to this game, Aberdeen sat third and had the second best defensive record in the league, but they had no answer for the Gers on Sunday.
With an 11-point advantage of Celtic, Rangers are in a commanding position and there is little evidence that their Old Firm rivals have any answer.
In other Rangers news, what can Bongani Zungu bring to the Rangers midfield?