Makeshift Rangers make Celtic wait for title with improbable comeback to floor Aberdeen

Following Celtic’s 5-1 home victory over Kilmarnock on Saturday, Rangers trailed Brendan Rodgers’ side by 16 points and required at least a draw to keep in the title race arithmetically alive going into the final five post-split fixtures. And the Ibrox men - who has Ross McCausland sent off after 40 minutes - staged a remarkable fightback to floor the Dons at the death.

Aberdeen led 2-0 at the break thanks to goals from Leighton Clarkson and Pape Habib Gueye, but the visitors sparked a remarkable comeback in the second half, with Hamza Igamane netting in 49 minutes before Ianis Hagi curled home right at the death.

A defeat for Rangers would have handed Celtic their fourth top-flight title and completed the second leg of a potential domestic treble, having already won the Premier Sports Cup final and being in the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup. Celtic are 15 points clear of Rangers with a superior goal difference of 42, but will only officially be coronated when the league reconvenes in two weeks time. There are five matches remaining, meaning only a point is required.

Rangers have been stronger on the continent this term and are in the quarter-finals of the Europa League against Athletic Bilbao. They drew the first leg on Thursday 0-0 at Ibrox and with more than one eye on the return match next week in Spain, interim manager Barry Ferguson made nine changes to his starting XI, with key players Nicolas Raskin and Vaclav Cerny left out altogether and John Souttar, Mohamed Diomande and James Tavernier named on the bench.

Teenager Findlay Curtis made his first Rangers start at left-back, while on-loan players Rafael Fernandes and Oscar Cortes made rare appearances. Former Aberdeen midfielder Connor Barron was handed the captain’s armband, with regular skipper James Tavernier on the bench, although he came on just 20 minutes in after Fernandes pulled up with a muscle strain.

While Rangers were competitive in the opening stages, with their front three of Igamane, Danilo and Oscar Cortes looking lively, Aberdeen soon took control of the match. Shayden Morris and Mats Knoester both missed good chances to put the hosts ahead but the opening goal arrived on 31 minutes when Clarkson netted direct from a free-kick which goalkeeper Liam Kelly ought to have done better with.

Rangers wretched first half

Matters went from bad to worse for Rangers on 40 minutes when McCausland - who was cautioned in the move leading up to Aberdeen’s opener - cynically fouled Topi Keskinen and was sent off for a second bookable offence. The Dons smelled blood and four minutes later, Morris skipped away from Curtis and cut the ball back for Gueye to net from close range.

Rangers had a stoppage-time effort by Igamane ruled out because the ball had crossed the line in the build-up and a buoyant Pittodrie roared as the hosts went in two goals to the good.

Jefte and Diomande were introduced from the bench by Rangers for Danilo and Cortes to try and revive their fortunes. They halved the deficit on 49 minutes when Igamane swept home with an accurate left-footed shot from just inside the penalty box after a good flick-on from Curtis.

The game had become far more competitive despite Rangers’ numerical inferiority, although Aberdeen striker Kevin Nisbet could have wrapped up proceedings on 74 minutes, only to fire wide from a promising position after good work from Tottenham loanee Alfie Dorrington.

The Scotland striker thought he’d wrapped up the points on 87 minutes when he stabbed the ball high into the net from close range, but VAR intervened to deem that there had been a handball leading up to the goal.

The moment proved to be of great significance as in the final action of the match, substitute Cyriel Dessers burst through on goal and smacked the post. The ball cannoned out to fellow replacement Hagi and he curled the ball high past Ross Doohan to break Dons hearts.

This was a blow for Aberdeen in their quest to pip Hibs and Dundee United to third place in the league. They will need to regroup for Saturday’s Scottish Cup semi-final against Hearts at Hampden.

For Rangers, their focus swiftly turns to their Europa League clash with Bilbao in Spain on Thursday evening, with a semi-final tie against either Manchester United or Lyon the reward should they prevail.

Celtic will discover early next week who they will play in the first game of the post-split phase when the SPFL announces the fixtures.