Rangers’ crisis deepened as a 2-1 defeat at Aberdeen left them nine points behind Celtic and the Dons at the top of the Premiership.
Dons full-back Nicky Devlin fired in a opener at Pittodrie after 31 minutes before Gers keeper Jack Butland saved a Jamie McGrath penalty six minutes from the interval as Jimmy Thelin’s side dominated.
The lethargic Light Blues responded after the break and wide-man Nedim Bajrami levelled in the 63rd minute with a fine solo goal only for second-half substitute Shayden Morris to fire in from close range 11 minutes later to heap more pressure on Gers boss Philippe Clement.
In contrast, Thelin is now unbeaten in 16 games since taking over as Aberdeen boss in the summer, winning 15 of those.
The Ibrox club is in turmoil with no permanent chairman, chief executive or director of football while on Tuesday it was revealed they made a net loss of £17.2million last season
Belgian boss Clement has to limp on under the weight of negativity which surrounds him, the team and the club. Rangers’ title hopes have surely gone beyond forlorn.
We give each player a mark out of ten for their display at Pittodrie.
13. Nicolas Raskin
Although beaten too easily by MacKenzie for the first goal, he helped spur on a mini-revival. | SNS Group
14. Connor Barron
Booed incessantly by Aberdeen fans. Lost the midfield battle. 5 | SNS Group
15. Topi Keskinen
Got an assist with a headed flick-on and his pace kept Rangers on their toes. Made way in second half. 7 | SNS Group
16. Jamie McGrath
His penalty was very poor but in general play, he was creative enough. 5 | SNS Group