Ten-man Rangers staged yet another two-goal comeback to earn a late point against Aberdeen and delay Celtic’s coronation as the Scottish Premiership champions.
A dramatically changed Rangers side went 1-0 down in the match at Pittodrie courtesy of Leighton Clarkson’s curly free-kick which caught Liam Kelly by surprise.
Things went from bad to worse when makeshift wing-back Ross McCausland was shown a second yellow card and Papi Habib Gueye made it 2-0 before half-time.
But despite Hamza Igamane hauling Rangers back into the match four minutes after the restart, Aberdeen looked to be heading for victory in the closing stages before Ianis Hagi curled in a stunning equaliser with seconds to play.
Here are three winners and two losers on the day for Rangers as they deny Celtic confirmation of their fourth Scottish Premiership title in a row.
Barry Ferguson – winner
Barry Ferguson named a much-changed Rangers side with one-eye on Thursday’s Europa League quarter final second leg against Athletic Club de Bilbao.
The interim Rangers manager was clearly prioritising the trip to Spain but managed to escape Pittodrie with a point and no injuries to key players in the match.
Whilst Ferguson wouldn’t have wanted to take James Tavernier on in the 40th minute or maybe even Mohamed Diomande at half-time, it’s all eyes on Thursday with several top players on ice.
The Rangers squad also once again showed that never-say-die spirit that will be crucial against Athletic Club next week.
Connor Barron – winner
Handed the Rangers captain’s armband on his return to old club Aberdeen, Connor Barron put in a spirited display before handing it over to James Tavernier after Rafael Fernandes was subbed off.
In a combative display, Barron stood up despite the endless jeering from the Dons crowd and celebrated wildly as Ianis Hagi denied his old side victory.
There’s fight in the young Scotland hopeful and whilst he’s still got a long way to go at Rangers, this was a character-building experience for the player.
Ianis Hagi – winner
Ahead of the clash with Aberdeen, Hagi shut down suggestions he was set to leave Rangers this summer.
Whilst the Romanian’s contract situation remains up in the air, Hagi has never once claimed he wants to leave Rangers and followed up an impressive performance against Athletic Club at Pittodrie.
After Cyriel Dessers rasped the post, Ianis Hagi curled in a stunning equaliser from the edge of the box to deny Aberdeen a win and Celtic the title victory.
Rafael Fernandes – loser
Rafael Fernandes was given a rare opportunity to impress against Aberdeen and toiled during his 20 minute on the pitch for Rangers.
There are doubts that Rangers will pay Lille £2.7m for Fernandes come the end of his loan spell with the defender barely kicking a ball since moving to the Gers in January.
Given a torrid time by an energetic Aberdeen in the opening stages, Fernandes went down and was hauled off only 20 minutes into the match.
Unlike Danilo and Oscar Cortes, who also failed to really grab their chance, Fernandes isn’t technically a full-time Rangers player and we suspect it’s a long road back for the Portuguese.
Ross McCausland – loser
Ross McCausland broke through into the Rangers team last season but has struggled to have a similar impact in this campaign.
The Northern Irish winger was asked to play at wing-back against Aberdeen but struggled with the defensive side of the match.
Shown two yellow card ten minutes apart, McCausland’s second challenge was quite ridiculously reckless and he really faces an uphill challenge to salvage his Ibrox career.
