Scottish Football: Aberdeen build up in style

ABERDEEN and Rangers meet at Pittodrie on Tuesday in a game which might not decide the destination of the Premier League title though it may go some way towards identifying the eventual winners, writes David McKinney.

Rangers lead by five points with a game in hand, so victory would be vital if Aberdeen are to continue their challenge to the Glasgow club's Scottish domination.

Aberdeen again underlined their scoring powers on Saturday with four goals at Falkirk including one from Duncan Shearer, the former Blackburn Rovers striker, in his first game for eight weeks.

Rangers also scored four but conceded three to Hibernian. In addition, they lost Trevor Steven (thigh injury) and Andy Goram (groin strain).

Motherwell's Ian Angus was quick to take advantage of a late blunder by Gary Gillespie to earn his side a point at Celtic Park. Leading by a Paul McStay goal, Celtic appeared to have secured a win when Gillespie overhit a pass to Pat Bonner, the keeper allowing Angus to shoot into an empty net.

Events defied comprehension at Broomfield where Dundee, for the second time this season, came back from two goals down and finished the game with nine men.

Ivo Den Bieman and Graham Rix were shown red cards and a further seven players were booked as Dundee, managed by Simon Stainrod, rallied to level Airdrie's two-goal interval lead with an own goal from Wes Reid and a second by Gary Patterson.

Rangers have promised to compensate over 2,000 of their supporters who have booked travel arrangements for the European Cup match against Club Bruges on 3 March following Uefa's decision that the game be played behind closed doors because of the behaviour of Belgian fans at Marseille in December.