Michael Beale found himself under the spotlight again as ragged Rangers crashed to a 3-1 cinch Premiership defeat to Aberdeen at Ibrox.
Four wins in a row without conceding a goal following a damaging 1-0 home loss to Celtic had given the Gers boss some breathing space but defender Stefan Gartenmann scored his first Dons goal after 38 minutes, with the home side booed off at half-time.
A high-tempo Gers start had given way to another plodding, disjointed, one-paced performance and Dons midfielder Jamie McGrath added a second in the 68th minute before Light Blues’ half-time substitute Scott Wright was sent off three minutes later for picking up a second yellow card from referee Steven McLean for a foul on Gartenmann.
Abdallah Sima reduced the deficit for the 10-man home side from close range in the 75th minute but Dons defender Jack MacKenzie scored a third in the 85th minute to seal a deserved three points for Barry Robson’s men.
The result piles added pressure on Beale, who may be entering his final days in Govan with his side already seven points behind league leaders Celtic.
The boos that rung out at the end from the home fans who had stuck around told its own story.
An added-time Celtic winner at Motherwell earlier in the day had reminded the Ibrox crowd just how difficult it was going to be for the Light Blues to reduce the gap and even so early in the season that looks unlikely.
MacKenzie, Leighton Clarkson and Dante Polvara all came into the Aberdeen side but in a high-tempo start to the game, Gers striker Cyriel Dessers, in for injured Kemar Roofe, missed a great chance in the fourth minute when he ballooned a pin-point pass from skipper James Tavernier over the bar from 12 yards.
Midfielder Sam Lammers then shot wide from the edge of the box before attacker Sima headed a Jose Cifuentes cross past the near post.
In the 20th minute Aberdeen keeper Kelle Roos made a fine save from Dessers’ close-range header.
Despite Rangers having almost total control, the home fans became increasingly grumpy, their mood not helped when Cifuentes missed a Tavernier cross right in front of goal.
And when Gartenmann, on a season-long loan from Midtjylland, escaped to the back post unmarked to knock in Clarkson’s corner from the left, the mood among the Light Blues supporters got worse.
Wright replaced Ryan Jack and Ridvan Yilmaz made way for Borna Barisic for the start of the second half as Beale looked for a route back amid growing anxiety.
In the 52nd minute Roos parried a low Barisic drive but inside a packed Dons penalty area the visitors scooped the loose ball away to safety.
Aberdeen were growing in confidence and, at the other end, striker Bojan Miovski headed a Clarkson cross against the post.
There was little fluency or tempo about Rangers and there was worse to come following a few seconds of pinball inside the Gers box, with Rangers players blocking various attempts before McGrath hammered the ball past keeper Jack Butland.
It was all going wrong for Rangers and former Aberdeen player Wright, booked earlier for a tackle on MacKenzie, saw yellow again for a foul on Gartenmann.
The depleted Light Blues were handed a lifeline when Sima slotted in from close range after Cifuentes had poked a loose ball back across the goalmouth but MacKenzie soon restored the two goal lead – confirmed after a long VAR check – when he drove in off the bar after Aberdeen again had the Gers defence in disarray.
Italy 'on the right track' despite France defeat – Spalletti
Luciano Spalletti believes Italy are "on the right track" despite the Azzurri ending their Nations League campaign with a 3-1 defeat to France on Sunday.
Adrien Rabiot scored twice and Guglielmo Vicario put through his own net as Les Bleus triumphed at San Siro, with all three goals coming from Lucas Digne set-pieces.
Italy had already confirmed a top-two finish by beating Belgium 1-0 three days earlier, however, so they will join France in the quarter-finals next March.
Despite the result, there were plenty of positives for Spalletti to take from Italy's performance, as his team enjoyed more possession (53.8%), shots (10 to six), expected goals (0.59 xG to 0.39) and touches in the opposition box (20 to eight) than their opponents.
"I believe that we are on the right track, I saw many things we sought in the correct way, but we were influenced by the emotion of the match, we forced the match," he said.
"In the second half the game was managed well, we often had the ball but we have to be cleaner with our ball management.
"The analysis is certainly positive, it is clear that there is something to review. When we return, the group will do this."
Italy were undone by some excellent dead-ball taking from Aston Villa full-back Digne, though, and Spalletti knows they must be more competitive on a physical level in the future.
"The boys wanted to go and challenge the opponent, there you spend energy. The third set-piece created problems for us, then we tried to react to score again, but they are physical," he said.
"Now we will review the situations well, they are one of the strongest teams there is from a physical point of view."
Tedesco blames injuries after Belgium shocked by Israel
Domenico Tedesco said Belgium's lengthy injury list was to blame after they were stunned by Israel in their final Nations League group-stage game on Sunday.
Belgium were beaten 1-0 in a game played in neutral Budapest, having also lost to Italy by the same scoreline three days earlier.
Tedesco's team were already unable to finish in the top two of Group A1 and make next year's quarter-finals, and they must now face a Group B runner-up in a promotion/relegation playoff.
Belgium were hit by something of an injury crisis during this international break, which captain Kevin De Bruyne opted to skip as he recovers from a hamstring injury.
Romelu Lukaku was then among five players to withdraw from their squad on Saturday, while both Leandro Trossard and Zeno Debast were substituted with injuries on Sunday.
"Some players played 90 minutes three days ago, and tonight they were somewhat compelled to play another 90 minutes," Tedesco said afterwards, as quoted by UEFA.com.
"Overall, the lessons learned were also part of the plan; it was about getting to know many players, as we will be there in March.
"I believe we had 21 injured players in the previous qualifying stage, and today we lost Leandro Trossard and Zeno Debast to injuries.
"We had a team that had never played together, never trained together. We started well, but ultimately, under really difficult circumstances, this is not the result we hoped for, and that's why we are very disappointed."
Despite attempting 649 passes in Sunday's game, their most in a single match in this edition of the Nations League, Belgium only managed 12 shots to Israel's 10.
Their total expected goals figure of 0.91 xG, meanwhile, was only marginally higher than the 0.77 created by Israel, who saw Yarden Shua come off the bench to net an 86th-minute winner.
Despite the loss, Tedesco has seen enough to believe his team will remain in the top tier of the competition when March's playoffs roll around.
"We will remain in League A, I am sure of it, because we know how to play in such matches," he said. "This will be important; that is our goal, as is qualifying for the World Cup."
Italy win shows 'true face of the France team', says Rabiot
Adrien Rabiot believes Sunday's win over Italy showed "the true face of the France team" as they secured top spot in Nations League Group A2.
The midfielder headed home twice in their 3-1 victory, meeting excellent deliveries from Lucas Digne on both, with his second goal restoring the all-important two-goal cushion that ensured they finished above the Azzurri in the group.
This comes after France had failed to find a way past Israel in a frustrating 0-0 draw last time out.
However, Sunday's victory ensured France will be seeded in the quarter-finals draw as they seem to have put their disappointing Euro 2024 campaign, in which they won just twice as they struggled in front of goal, behind them.
Les Bleus also avenged the 3-1 defeat to Italy on home soil in the reverse fixture, something Rabiot said was playing on their minds while they prepared for their trip to San Siro.
"It's been a long time since we've played a match like this, that we haven't fought in this way all together, until the end," he told TF1.
"We also had the objective of winning with a two-goal difference, we did it. But frankly, the mutual aid that there was in this match, the combativeness, the team spirit, it's to be highlighted. Frankly, we enjoyed playing this match.
"It was a different context [Thursday]. Above all, there was a revenge to be taken compared to the previous match against Italy, who had come to win at home. It's a great evening. I hope we will continue to show this face. It's the true face of the France team."
Digne officially got two assists in the victory, but he also played a big role in France's other goal – his free-kick rattled the crossbar before bouncing in off the unfortunate Guglielmo Vicario.
In fact, France scored three goals from set-pieces in a match for the first time since 1991, when they netted three times from dead-ball situations against Albania.
"[The free-kick is] a technical gesture that is worked on in training. The more you do, the more automatic it becomes, and it pays off," Digne said.
"Offensively, it's not bad at all. As a defender, I would have preferred to finish with a clean sheet, but we can't have everything. We finished first, it's great.
"We had a revenge to take from the first leg, we wanted to show a completely different face. And in addition to our slightly worse match against Israel... We really wanted to show that this jersey is close to our hearts. The whole group was present. It was really a complete match."
France's Nations League quarter-finals will be played in March.
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