Recap
What a difference a week can make, although it was a no-score draw against Rangers on Saturday, it was a miles better performance compared to the draw against St Mirren the week before.
We more than held off the challenge from Rangers and had the chances to win the match, but unfortunately our lack of goals continued to frustrate.
Derek McInnes lined up the same starting eleven that faced St Mirren.
New signing, Ronald Hernández got a place on the bench, having travelled to Glasgow to meet up with his teammates after signing on Friday.
Our last outing to Glasgow was a 5-0 humiliation, but this game was different.
A positive start came in the shape of of a Lewis Ferguson effort in the 13th minute, when he picked up a Niall McGinn free-kick from the left but his shot was tipped over by Allan McGregor.
Matty Kennedy curled a shot from the edge of the box just over the bar in the 22nd minute.
The home side didn’t register there first effort until the 27th minute when Scott Arfield’s free-kick was deflected wide.
Sam Cosgrove should have put the Dons ahead shortly after, taking possession from Nikola Katic and raced up the field.
He had a clear chance at goal, but a poor touch sent the ball forward allowing Allan McGregor to make the save.
Steven Davis tested Joe Lewis in the 31st minute, but Joe blocked his powerful 20 yard drive.
The Dons nearly went behind, after Joe spilled a drive from Alfredo Moleros, but he recovered to collect the loose ball as Scott Arfield looked to pounce, and Joe came to the rescue just before the end of the first half after pushing away a header from Arfield.
Into the second half, and Rangers came out of the blocks all guns blazing, pinning us back in the opening stages of the half.
Joe Lewis produced a fantastic save in the 58th minute when he charged down Morelos and pushed his effort wide.
Ash Taylor tried an ambitious effort from 40 yards but it was saved comfortably by Allan McGregor.
Aberdeen came close again in the 69th minute, Jon Gallagher picked up a Cosgrove pass which was blocked by McGregor.
Just shortly after, Ash Taylor rose in the box to meet a Niall McGinn free-kick but his header was blocked at close range.
All-in-all whilst there was no goals, it was a much better performance from the Dons to close the gap with Motherwell in 3rd, to three points.
Derek McInnes said: “If you get a clean sheet at Ibrox with the talent in their dressing-room, you know you’ve done a lot of things right.
“We had bags of effort and concentration with Rangers always asking questions.
“Sometimes when you don’t take them it can be demoralising for the players but we never let our heads go down.
“It wasn’t perfect because we didn’t win but it was a good display and we deserved the draw at least. Because we had the best chances.
“Sam led the line brilliantly today – their two centre backs knew they were in a game – but he took a heavy touch for a big opportunity in the first half.
“I can understand, at a certain level, some of the criticism I’ve had. That comes with the territory.
“But we’ve been through tough spells in the past and we’ve proved that we always come through it. We just try to ignore the noise. We want to come out of February sitting third in the league and in the quarter finals of the cup.”
