Aribo inspires Rangers to beat Aberdeen in Scottish Premiership
Joe Aribo contributed an assist as Rangers secured a hard-fought 1-0 triumph over Aberdeen FC in Saturday’s Premiership outing.
With the game looking to be heading for a goalless draw, the Nigeria international conjured magic that saw super-sub Kemar Roofe score a late winner.
After failing to win their last eight matches in all competitions, the Dons travelled to the Ibrox Stadium aiming to put an end to their appalling run.
For the Gers, who are buoyed by their 1-0 triumph over St. Johnstone last time out, victory for them would see them extend their unbeaten run to eight.
As expected, it was Rangers that started brightly, and good pressure around the visitors’ box ended with Alfredo Morelos getting a decent effort away that slipped just wide.
Moments later, Aribo then saw his shot sail wide in the hesitant opening minutes.
While goalkeeper Allan McGregor looked to be having a quiet day at the office, his opposite number Joe Lewis was busy – with his fine moment seeing him save a goal-bound shot from Glen Kamara.
In search of goals, Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s team stepped up their game in the last 45 minutes. Fashion Sakala was lucky not to see his header from Borna Barisic’s cross find the net.
For Calvin Bassey – who has been invited for Nigeria’s World Cup play-off against Ghana – his effort to put his team ahead was blocked.
Aberdeen, on the other end – looked cool defending while relying on counter-attacks.
Nevertheless, their resistance was broken nine minutes from full time as Roofe – two minutes after replacing Morelos – scored the winner with Aribo the provider.
At the end of the keenly contested affair, Rangers reigned supreme while Aberdeen returned home with heads bowed low.
Aribo alongside Bassey were in action from start to finish, but Zambia international Sakala came off for Scott Arfield in the 59th minute.
Elsewhere, Leon Balogun was introduced for Barisic a minute before the hour mark.
Manager Jim Goodwin cut a frustrated figure after the match and claimed his team deserved at least a point.
“I felt we deserved a 0-0 today. Rangers won’t have enjoyed that game, we didn’t make life easy for them,” he told the media, as per their club website.
“The overall performance merited a point so I’m extremely disappointed to take nothing from it. Joe has only had a couple of things to deal with in the 90 minutes, so that’s credit to the way we played.”
Even with this win, Rangers are second on the log behind leaders Celtic after accruing 70 points from 30 league fixtures.