Daniel Feliciano

Sun 23 April 2023 18:26, UK

Rangers turned in a poor performance at Pittodrie as they were beaten 2-0 by Aberdeen to end their hopes of catching Celtic in the SPFL title race.

The first-half was a cagey affair but it was Rangers who had the better chances, with Fashion Sakala missing a one-on-one and Borna Barisic hitting the post from a tight angle.

But just minutes into the second half Aberdeen took the lead with a fluke-strike from Liam Scales that floated over the head of Allan McGregor in the Gers goal.

It was 2-0 before the hour mark as Borna Barisic went to sleep at the back post and allowed Bojan Miovski to head home his 18th goal of the season.

Here is how we rated the performance of each Rangers player at Ibrox News…

Allan McGregor – 5/10

The veteran got caught cold for the opener by being off his line and not reacting quickly enough, but there was nothing he could do for the second. He made some decent stops aside from that too, but a new number one is still needed.

James Tavernier – 3/10

Tavernier really struggled to link up with his winger going forward and defensively found attacks constantly streaming down his side. It wasn’t a good performance from the skipper.

John Souttar – 6/10

Despite the score line the centre-back actually played well and did his best to build from the back and win the ball back quickly. Aerially he was strong too and was let down by his teammates ultimately.

Ben Davies – 5/10

Much like Souttar his overall performance wasn’t bad, but he misjudged the flight of the ball for the second goal which left Aberdeen with a clear chance which they took. His form hasn’t been the best since Goldson’s injury and that has to be a concern.

Borna Barisic – 2/10

There’s a reason why fans want to see Ridvan Yilmaz given a run in the side, and it’s because we already know Barisic isn’t good enough. He offered very little going forward in the game and was sleeping for the second Aberdeen goal at the back post. Poor.

John Lundstram – 4/10

Lundstram has gone from undroppable under Van Bronckhorst to fighting for his future under Beale, and showings like this won’t do him many favours. Wasn’t progressive enough on the ball and didn’t do enough defensively to help the team when struggling.

Nicolas Raskin – 4/10

First half was Raskin showing his skillset with good control and passing, but he should have done more with a big opportunity when through on goal. His second half showing saw him off the pace in the physical duels, and he was substituted just after the hour.

Fashion Sakala – 5/10

Should have scored at least one in the first-half when sent clean through on goal, but after that he seemed to disappear into his shell and it’s a bit of a mystery that he lasted as long as he did.

Malik Tillman – 5/10

Had some glimpses of quality again and made some good passes, but as has been the case a few times this season he went missing when we needed him the most and the intensity level got high.

Todd Cantwell – 4/10

Probably Cantwell’s worst performance in a blue shirt since joining. His passing was sloppy, his shooting was poor and defensively he was slack when he moved into a deeper midfield role.

Alfredo Morelos – 3/10

Nothing went well for the Colombian today. He ran hard as he usually does but he didn’t link well with any of the midfielders, his press was irrelevant and his shooting summed up by a strike from the edge of the box that nearly went for a throw.

Substitutes

Rabbi Matondo – 5/10

A good impact from the Wales international as he injected pace into the game, and he probably should have scored with a big chance he had but he put it wide.

Scott Arfield – N/A

In other Rangers news, Rangers and Celtic could do battle for this striker this summer according to one pundit.