Rangers slump to 10-man Aberdeen

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ABERDEEN, Scotland, Nov 28, 2009 (AFP) - Rangers suffered their first Scottish Premier League defeat of the season as Lee Miller's strike gave 10-man Aberdeen a 1-0 victory on Saturday that completed a miserable week for the Glasgow giants.

The Ibrox outfit were dumped out of Europe on Tuesday after a 2-0 defeat to Stuttgart in the Champions League left them with no hope of even a consolation place in the Europa League.

Walter Smith's team desperately needed the boost of a win at Pittodrie that would have sent them four points clear of second placed Celtic ahead of Saturday's later fixtures.

But instead they produced a dismal display, falling behind to Miller's first half goal and then failing to break down the Aberdeen defence even though the hosts had captain Mark Kerr sent off for two bookings on the hour mark.

Rangers' Algerian defender Madjid Bougherra started on the bench again after being dropped for the Stuttgart clash as punishment for returning late from international duty.

Smith kept faith in 17-year-old defender Danny Wilson, but Aberdeen had been beaten only once in their last eight home games against the Glasgow club and they swiftly exploited Rangers' soft centre.

Mark McGhee's side had lost defender Jerel Ifil to injury in the warm-up but they made a flying start.

Christopher Maguire fired a volley just over the crossbar before Peter Pawlett caused panic with a purposeful run and shot that deflected wide for a corner.

Aberdeen deservedly went ahead in the 17th minute when Michael Paton jinked past Steven Whittaker to drive a low cross towards Miller, who poked in his third goal of the season.

That sparked Rangers into life and they should have equalised in the 26th minute when Kris Boyd got past Richard Foster and crossed for Kyle Lafferty to head over when it looked easier to score.

Smith's side appealed for a penalty when Whittaker fell under pressure from Maguire but referee Craig Thomson waved play on.

Boyd threatened when he barged past Foster to drive in a low shot that Jamie Langfield palmed away.

The hosts had a golden opportunity to double their lead when Rangers defender Sasa Papac was booked for fouling Pawlett on the edge of the area. But the Bosnian made amends by clearing Charlie Mulgrew's deflected free-kick off the line.

Just as Aberdeen were getting back on top, McGhee's men were reduced to ten men on the hour mark when Kerr, who had already been booked for a foul on Steven Naismith, was shown a second yellow for another challenge on the same player.

It was backs to the wall for Aberdeen after that and Mulgrew managed to prevent substitute Nacho Novo netting with a last-ditch clearance before Boyd was denied by Langfield to leave Rangers just one point ahead of Celtic.