Philippe Clement disagrees with BBC journalist suggestion after Rangers draw v Aberdeen
Philippe Clement insisted it was “totally not” the case that Rangers were relieved to come away from their trip to Aberdeen with a point.
James Tavernier converted a 94th-minute penalty at Pittodrie on Sunday (26 November) to earn the Gers a 1-1 draw in the Scottish Premiership clash.
It looked for all the world as though Clement’s unbeaten start was coming to an end, but the Belgian believes his side deserved more.
When asked by a BBC Scotland journalist if he was “relieved” to earn a share of the spoils, Clement responded: “Totally not relieved – more disappointed that [we didn’t] get three deserved points.”
As per BBC Sport’s live blog [26 November, 14:36pm], Clement added: “I was not happy with the first 10-15 minutes.
“We were not sharp enough in the duels and we know how hectic it can be here.”
Resolve
Rangers registered 22 shots at Pittodrie, 10 of those on target, while also hitting the frame of the goal twice through Tom Lawrence and Leon Balogun.
It is entirely understandable, then, that Clement felt the Gers did enough to come away from the contest with all three points.
But Clement’s men ultimately did not take their chances, and it was only thanks to a needless Stefan Gartenmann shirt pull that we came away with anything.
Whenever you score a goal deep into added time, then there has to be some relief – regardless of whether the performance in the 93 minutes beforehand warranted more.
Lessons will need to be learned from this game ahead of next month’s Viaplay Cup final clash at Hampden Park with the same opponents.
Now unbeaten in eight games under Clement, the Gers once again showed some serious resolve at Pittodrie if nothing else.
In other Rangers news, presenter Peter Martin gave a “dreadful” verdict after what he saw in the Aberdeen match.