PHILIPPE CLEMENT dedicated last night’s win over Aberdeen to the Rangers faithful – just days after the Ibrox walkout.
Hamza Igamane fired Gers into an early lead but they had to wait for injury time goals from subs Leon Balogun and Cyriel Dessers to clinch the points.
Hamza Igamane scored the opener[/caption]
Phi;lippe Clement was delighted with a dominant performance[/caption]
Subs Cyriel Dessers and Leon Balogun got in on the act[/caption]
The 3-0 Ibrox win closed the gap on runaway leaders Celtic to 13 points and inflicted more pain on the dismal Dons.
And gaffer Clement praised the support – and their backing for his stars – as the Union Bears stayed for the whole game.
He said: “At the end, the synergy with the fans pleased me most. You could see everyone was really happy.
“I’m happy with the team performance and you see the energy in the stands then.
“They can go home happy with what they saw and what this team’s capable of.
“It was almost full domination of the game. That’s what you want.
“It’s about creating this consistency with the players and they learn.
“You see the team growing and more players understanding what to do and when.
“We could have scored a second goal in the first half. We had enough chances and we weren’t efficient enough.
“We hit the bar and post and we knew we needed to score the second goal to kill the belief of the opponent. We were pushing for that.”
Gers now face Fraserburgh in the Scottish Cup and Manchester United in the Europa League before returning to Premiership action.
Goalscorer Balogun said: “I’ve hit the crossbar and missed sitters against Aberdeen in the past so I’m happy to score a goal.
“This is always a big fixture for the fans so we were happy to win.
“We should probably have killed the game earlier but I’m happy to put the nail in the coffin.
“I’m very pleased. I was due a goal and it was something I wasn’t happy with so hopefully it gets me going.”
Balogun returned from injury to replaced the crocked Robin Propper in the second half.
And he headed home from a pinpoint cross by central defensive partner Clinton Nsiala.
He added: “Clinton has done tremendously well in the last three games and especially today.
“It’s never an easy fixture. He has been really good considering it’s his first three professional games.
“It’s about consistency in our performances which has been the problem.
“It’s a good win and we can enjoy it.”
Propper and Danilo both came off injured but Clement insisted it was too early to assess the knocks.
Aberdeen are now 12 games without a win and have plunged a dozen points behind Gers in fourth place.
Boss Jimmy Thelin – who handed debuts off the bench to Alfie Dorrington and Akexander Jensen – said: “We have to do better with the ball and without the ball.
“We lose the ball in the wrong areas. We have a job to do and have to push to do better every week.
“I can still see a team which is running and fighting for each other. They are giving everything they can but we need to be better on the ball.”
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