Gers triumph over Aberdeen

Rangers 2, Aberdeen 0 (full-time)

Rangers beat 10-man Aberdeen by two goals to nil in their SPL game at Ibrox.

A first half opener from Ronald de Boer was doubled late on by Barry Ferguson, an incident for which Aberdeen's Kevin McNaughton was dismissed.

Peter Lovenkrands was booked for diving after going down in the box under Eric Deloumeaux's challenge.

That decision angered the home fans and appeared to shock the player but Deloumeaux's luck was running out.

Lovenkrands left him for dead in the 29th minute the opening goal of the game and used his pace to retrieve possession and whip in a low cross that was seemingly destined for Shota Arveladze at the near post.

But Arveladze cleverly dummied to allow the De Boer a simple close range finish.

Aberdeen were keen to be competitive and plenty of tackles were flying in, including one that saw McNaughton.

The visitors managed three shots in the first half with Darren Mackie and Jamie McAllister failing to hit the target.

Rangers finally killed Aberdeen off with a Ferguson penalty that had been awarded for hand ball on the line.

An Arteta corner was deflected high into the air, where it was met by a melee of bodies, including goalkeeper Peter Kjaer.

The result was a touch that appeared to come off a defender's head that diverted the ball goalwards.

McNaughton's intervention on the line was interpreted as illegal and Ferguson made no mistake from the spot.