Rangers can win the Scottish championship next Sunday and, by a delicious irony that the Strathclyde constabulary might find less than amusing, they could do so at Celtic Park.
If they win the Old Firm match at the ground of their only real rivals, the title will be theirs with three matches to spare. Even if they do not, it will simply be a case of finding fresh ice for the champagne.
They fought back well after losing an early goal to Aberdeen at Ibrox and, by the end, they seemed at ease with themselves. That has not always been the case in recent weeks as their form faltered and the nerves twanged.
Aberdeen could have won the match in the first 20 minutes when Rangers' notion of defensive play consisted of standing around while the opposition went unchallenged. Eoin Jess, who reserves some of his best performances for this fixture, helped to give the Dons a lead. His angled cross from the left found the far post completely undefended and Jim Hamilton side-footed back across goal. Mark Perry rushed forward to shoot past the goalkeeper Stefan Klos.
Rangers climbed back into the game six minutes later when the referee correctly adjudged that Derek Whyte's push in the back of Rod Wallace was worth a penalty. Gabriel Amato took it and sent Tony Warner the wrong way.
Andrei Kanchelskis, who had been penny-pinching in his contribution, popped up to give Rangers the lead in the 55th minute. Given the ball by Amato, he trailed it across a line of Aberdeen defenders on the edge of the penalty area, searching for an opening. When that was denied him, he hit a hopeful shot which, with the help of a wicked deflection, wrong-footed the stranded Warner.
Minutes later Argentine Amato cut the defence apart with a through ball and Wallace rolled the ball under the goalkeeper's body and into the net.
Rangers: Klos, Porrini, Amoruso, Hendry, Nicholson (McInnes 46), Kanchelskis (Wilson 71), Van Bronckhorst, Amato (Johansson 78), Wallace, McCann, Reyna. Subs Not Used: Guivarc'h, Brown. Booked: Van Bronckhorst. Goals: Amato 27 pen, Kanchelskis 55, Wallace 60.
Aberdeen: Warner, Perry, Whyte, Smith, Hamilton, Jess, Mayer, Dow, Bernard, Young, Winters. Subs Not Used: Leighton, Anderson, Buchan, Wyness, Notman. Booked: Young. Goals: Perry 19. Referee: M McCurrie (Glasgow).
