It was imperative to narrow that gap to Celtic after they dropped points on Tuesday. Anything else would have been intolerable to the Rangers fans. Their side started fast and got the reward, but that vital second,

It was a 3-0 trouncing in the end with Leon Balogun and Cyriel Dessers - both off the bench - netting in added-time but the Dons didn't help their cause in Govan after a defensive error was capitalised on for the opener - and they could have been punished a couple of times.

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin: "You don't want errors like that, but they happen. We have things to work on. "Like how we play with the ball, we have to be more composed and find better rhythm in games.