From staring disaster in the face, Rangers produced a stunning stoppage time turnaround to leave Aberdeen shell shocked at Pittodrie.
The Dons were on course for a first home win over the Light Blues in six years. After Fashion Sakala had fired the visitors in front, the hosts found plenty of what was missing against Celtic on Saturday to rally and get themselves ahead. First, Duk whipped a free-kick past an unsure Allan McGregor, then Leighton Clarkson lashed a fine effort into the far corner after the break to send the home fans wild.
By the time the full-time whistle went, however, they were dazed and confused after Scott Arfield inflicted not one but two late sucker punches in an extraordinary finish in the north east. He pounced on a Kelle Roos error to level the game before another instinctive finish to win it and inflict what must have felt like a sickening shot to the solar plexus for a gutted Jim Goodwin.
Michael Beale knows he was oh so close to a long, soul searching trip back down to Glasgow but for Arfield’s impact off the bench. Instead, he was left delighted at a second 3-2 victory in as many games during his short Ibrox reign so far.
But he’ll be well aware of the job he has on his hands and the fortune his team enjoyed at a difficult venue. Kris Boyd certainly made sure he didn't forget that after full-time. Here’s what the pundits had to say after everyone had caught their breath.
Kris Boyd
“You look at the result for Aberdeen on Saturday and we were three minutes away from Celtic winning and going 12 points clear and it’s an absolute disaster for Rangers. Now all of a sudden it’s back to six. It keeps the slim hopes alive. But there’s one thing that Michael Beale will know; there’s a lot of hard work to go, hence the reason he’s got the job in the first place, but there’s a lot of hard work to go.
“There are a lot of players there who are probably coming to the end of their Rangers careers. Take nothing away from them, it was fantastic courage and desire to find that win. But if you analyse that performance, there’s a lot nowhere near the standards expected for Rangers.”
Stephen Glass
“They’ve had two real sickeners actually. The thing is, you have to pick the positives out of it and there’s a lot of positives there for them tonight. The goalkeeper was fantastic then makes one mistake, and it results in ina goal.
“The last goal, the header cannot go near the middle of the six yard box where they headed into, which is the biggest disappointment.
“Jim doesn’t have to analyse it, he already knows. But he doesn’t want to say it because the players are going to hear him and he has to pick them up for a big trip to St Mirren, which if they perform like they did in the second half, especially early on, I see them getting three points.
“It’s a case of getting up, seeing the positives and getting on the horse again on Saturday.”
James McFadden
“Before the game, Michael Beale was saying they want to start a bit better because on Thursday against Hibs, it was a poor start. This was a good start but they seemed to drop off. They fell out of the game. Aberdeen had a good start to the second half and Rangers then needed to make their changes to have an impact.”
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