Given that he is still only 18 years old, Mikey Moore won’t remember the days when Rangers were the dominant force in Scottish football.
But in their quest to win this season’s league title, Rangers are now increasingly reliant on their baby-faced assassin on the left wing.
Moore was the best player on the pitch in this comfortable victory over Aberdeen, a result which ensured they kept pace with leaders Hearts and maintained the gap at three points. The young Rangers winger was closely followed in that regard by Tuur Rommens, who enjoyed another excellent game at left-back.
There is now a new dynamic to Danny Rohl’s team on the left side of the pitch with Moore and Rommens operating in tandem.
It was Tochi Chukwuani who set Rangers on their way to victory by scoring his first league goal for the club, with three further strikes from Moore, Nico Raskin and James Tavernier.
Rangers carried a far greater threat in the final third than they had done over the past couple of weeks and, on this form, they will push Hearts and Celtic all the way. The ball will now be in Celtic’s court to respond when they face Dundee United at Tannadice. But, in pursuit of the men in maroon, Rangers did all that was asked of them.
Moore bends in Rangers’ second of the afternoon against Aberdeen
Up against an Aberdeen team who offered precious little over the 90 minutes, Rohl’s men kept their foot to the floor. As the second half wore on, you started to wonder what the chances might be of these two old rivals playing in different leagues next season.
Aberdeen are bang in trouble. Results have really gone against them over recent weeks and the way they dilly-dallied for two months after sacking Jimmy Thelin in January has plunged the club into a relegation fight.
Rohl made only one change from the 1-0 win at St Mirren last weekend, with Thelo Aasgaard coming in to replace Djeidi Gassama.
With Andreas Skov Olsen missing out through illness, it was Aasgaard and Moore who lined up behind the front two of Ryan Naderi and Youssef Chermiti in Rohl’s 4-2-2-2 system.
As they made their way to Ibrox for the teatime kick-off, the Rangers supporters bemoaned the news that Hearts had scored a late winner at Tynecastle against Dundee. But they knew there was still a job to do. Several Rangers players have spoken recently about the need to be squeaky clean from now until the end of the season and win every game if they are to lift the title.
In terms of being impacted by the scores from the 3pm matches, it was actually the Aberdeen fans who had more cause for concern. The fact that Kilmarnock and St Mirren both won heaped more pressure on the Dons, who were only three points ahead of the relegation play-off spot by the time kick-off arrived.
Stephen Robinson made four changes from the 1-1 draw with Falkirk last week, with Afeez Aremu, Ante Palaversa, Emmanuel Gyamfi and Kenan Bilalovic replacing Mitchel Frame, Graeme Shinnie, Stuart Armstrong and Marko Lazetic.
The youngster is showcasing his talent as Rangers look to overhaul Hearts at the top of the table
Robinson now has a huge job on his hands to steer the club away from relegation trouble. Having taken a point against the Bairns in his first match at the helm, this was always likely to be a far tougher assignment.
It was Chermiti who had the first decent chance on 10 minutes when he met a Tavernier corner, but his header was wayward when he ought to have tested Dimitar Mitov at the very least.
Chermiti had another terrific chance on 18 minutes but, with a clear sight of goal, he fired a left-foot shot low into the side netting. Given that eight of his nine Rangers goals have come against Celtic and Hearts, nobody can deny that Chermiti has made a big impact in key matches this season. But the simple reality is that he still misses far too many chances and looks unconvincing with his contribution in general play.
With Robinson deploying his team in a 3-5-2 shape, Aberdeen looked solid and largely frustrated Rangers for the opening half-hour.
Indeed, there hadn’t been a single shot on target across the opening 35 minutes. That was until Rangers finally sparked into life and broke the deadlock.
The move started with a terrific, raking pass from Raskin out to the left wing. Rommens still had plenty to do, but he showed more desire and physicality to win the ball and scurry away from Dylan Lobban. Rommens cut the ball back for Moore and, after his initial shot had been blocked, Chukwuani fired the ball low into the bottom corner from the edge of the box with a controlled finish.
There was so much focus in January on the likes of Skov Olsen, Naderi and Chukwuani, but it’s Rommens who looks like he is the pick of the new signings. The Belgian left-back, who was signed for £4million from Westerlo, scored the winner at St Mirren last week and was pivotal once again last night.
Trailing by a goal at the break, the onus was on Aberdeen to come out and show more attacking intent. Robinson’s side looked solid and compact before falling behind but offered nothing at the top end of the pitch.
Raskin and Rangers celebrate their third goal, which all but secured the three points
Seeking to inject some kind of threat into his team, the Dons boss made two changes at the break with Toyosi Olusanya and Alexander Jensen coming on to replace Lobban and Bilalovic. But whatever hopes Aberdeen had of mounting a comeback took a dent as Rangers doubled their lead just three minutes after the interval.
Naderi picked up the ball and drove forward into space before feeding Moore on the left. The young Tottenham loanee then showed lovely composure to place the ball into the far corner beyond Mitov.
The atmosphere at Ibrox has actually been quite flat at times, but the sight of the ball nestling in Aberdeen’s net for a second time saw increased the noise levels significantly.
Yet, inexplicably, an act of self-sabotage from Rangers gifted the visitors a way back into the match just four minutes later.
It was Chukwuani who lost the ball in a terrible area deep in his own half. An incisive pass from Aremu split Rangers wide open and Dennis Geiger slotted a good finish past Jack Butland.
Incredibly, it was Aberdeen’s first away goal of 2026. As was the case here against Celtic a few weeks ago, when they squandered a two-goal lead, a question had now been asked of Rangers. But any threat of a similar collapse was extinguished when the ball broke to Raskin from a Tavernier free-kick and the Belgian midfielder poked the ball past Mitov just after the hour.
Lazetic had a decent chance at the back post to pull another back for the visitors, before ex-Aberdeen striker Bojan Miovski saw a goal against his former club ruled out due to handball.
It was Tavernier who rounded off the scoring with a free-kick in the final few seconds that crashed in off the underside of the crossbar.
