James Tavernier was the Rangers hero as the Light Blues picked up their first trophy of the Philippe Clement era with a 1-0 Viaplay Cup final win over Aberdeen.
The prolific Ibrox skipper rifled in the winner in the 75th minute of a hard-fought encounter at Hampden Park to hand his Belgian boss his first trophy after just a few months at Ibrox.
The victory completed the clean sweep of domestic trophy wins for the full-back and it also meant Clement remains unbeaten in 14 games since taking over from Michael Beale in October.
It was the 28th time the Ibrox club have won the trophy – the first since 2011 – and they still have interest in the title and Europa League this season, with the Scottish Cup yet to start, so Gers fans will be hoping more success is on its way.
Both sides went into the game on a wet and windy Glasgow afternoon in fine fettle.
Rangers’ stunning 3-2 win away to Real Betis on Thursday night took them into the last 16 of the Europa League. Although the Dons were already out of the Europa Conference League, their 2-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt was more than commendable.
There was a further boost with the return of forward Bojan Miovski from a hamstring issue while skipper Graeme Shinnie, Leighton Clarkson, Jamie McGrath, Nicky Devlin, Richard Jensen and Jonny Hayes also returned.
Leon Balogun, Todd Cantwell and Dujon Sterling were back for Rangers, who had not beaten their opponents in two games this season.
However, both sides were below par in the first half.
On the half-hour mark Gers attacker Abdallah Sima took a pass from Cantwell inside the Aberdeen box but his low drive on the turn, no more than decent, was saved by Dons keeper Kelle Roos.
Rangers winger Ross McCausland had the ball in the Aberdeen net in the 39th minute but referee Don Robertson had blown for an infringement inside the Dons box.
The first half ended with Aberdeen’s Stefan Gartenmann heading Clarkson’s free-kick wide from 14 yards before McCausland missed the target with a header from a Cantwell delivery.
More was expected after the interval.
Dons attacker Ester Sokler failed to get a touch on an inviting Devlin cross from just a few yards out and at the other end, Roos blocked a shot from McCausland who was on the stretch but the corner came to nothing.
Roos then made crucial saves from a Cyriel Dessers strike and free-kicks from Tavernier and left-back Borna Barisic before Balogun flashed the ball over the bar from a Cantwell cutback.
There was a Rangers penalty appeal when a shot from substitute Scott Wright, on for McCausland, hit the top of Gartenmann’s arm but play moved on – and soon the Light Blues were ahead.
Barisic made it to the byline and his deep cross from the left landed at Tavernier, who took a touch and fired it in off the ground past Roos to send the blue section of Hampden into raptures.
Aberdeen battled back and there were some nervy moments in the Gers defence. Close to the end of six added minutes, there was a goalmouth melee in the Rangers box involving several players following a corner – a VAR check for a possible red card offence came to nothing, although it was not clear who was at risk.
The final whistle soon followed, as did Light Blue celebrations.
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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