Philippe Clement remains confident that Rangers can close the nine-point gap on Scottish Premiership leaders Celtic and second-placed Aberdeen, despite suffering a 2-1 defeat to the Dons at Pittodrie.
The loss, marked by Rangers’ struggle for clinical finishing, further fuels the pressure on Clement, but he insists the title race is far from over.
The match saw Aberdeen full-back Nicky Devlin open the scoring after 31 minutes, igniting the home crowd.
Rangers had a golden opportunity to equalise before the break, but Jack Butland’s save from a Jamie McGrath penalty kept them in the game.
However, frustration mounted for the Light Blues when Ross McCausland had a goal disallowed for offside.
Rangers did find a way back in the second half, with winger Nedim Bajrami levelling the score in the 63rd minute after a fine solo effort.
Yet, Aberdeen’s Shayden Morris struck the decisive blow in the 74th minute, firing home from close range to restore Aberdeen’s lead and ultimately secure the points.
Clement, who took over from Michael Beale, reflected on his experience last season when he managed to overcome a seven-point deficit to briefly lead the league, only to see Celtic ultimately retain the title.
He believes that experience could prove invaluable as Rangers aim to claw back their current deficit.
“Yeah, it’s a big gap, but if you’re focused on the gap, you’re not focused on taking the points,” the Belgian remarked.
“So when I stepped in last season, there was also a big gap at that moment and we came back all the way, but did not succeed at the end of the road.”
He continued: “So it was a story of game-by-game, giving the maximum, so that’s what we need to do again. We’re going to work hard like we did last season also, to continue working really hard with the squad and day-by-day, game-by-game, to go full for that. Last year it was possible, so this year it’s also possible.”
Reflecting on the match, Clement acknowledged his side’s missed chances:
“I think we were the team in the second half going for the winning goal, getting the most time in the box of the two teams, but we were not clinical enough… Also, knowing that we scored the goal and it’s disallowed for a toenail offside, it could have been a different result.”
On the other side, Aberdeen’s boss Jimmy Thelin praised his team’s resilience. Since taking charge in the summer, Thelin has steered the Dons to an impressive unbeaten run of 16 games, and they now sit level with Celtic on points, only trailing on goal difference.
“It was for sure an emotional game,” Thelin said.
“A lot of things happened today. Different momentum of the game… our first half was one of the better ones. We attacked in different ways, the intensity of the game was really strong. In the second half they had more momentum, but we stayed in the game in a really strong team spirit.”
Looking ahead, both sides face crucial cup semi-finals this weekend at Hampden Park, with Aberdeen taking on Celtic in the Premier Sports Cup and Rangers set to meet Motherwell.
Thelin added, “The character of the team, and the atmosphere at Pittodrie, was amazing. Once again, the character of the team and the team spirit is so strong.”