Shankland's Penalty Eases the Heat on McInnes, But Rangers Still Look Unconvincing

Pressure had been building on Derek McInnes before Sunday's trip to Pittodrie, and three points offered only partial relief. A 1-0 win over Aberdeen handed Rangers their first Scottish Premiership victory of the campaign, yet the manner of it left plenty unresolved, coming just days after a Conference League qualifying exit to Jablonec had already cost the club a place in Europe this season.

A Penalty That Bought Time, Not Conviction

It took until the 69th minute for the deadlock to break, referee Matthew MacDermid pointing to the spot after Dan Happe caught Djeidi Gassama with a clumsy challenge inside the box. Skipper Lawrence Shankland converted confidently in front of a Pittodrie crowd of 18,343, the only goal in a match that had been goalless at half-time. Rangers were nearly made to pay for their profligacy elsewhere when Kevin Nisbet appeared to head home a late equaliser; officials instead ruled that Nisbet had shoved Dujon Sterling in the build-up and chalked the goal off. McInnes' side survived to claim a win that flattered the display behind it.

Zoom out, and the result fits an unusual pattern. Rangers had won their previous four league meetings with Aberdeen, and Sunday's victory made it five in succession - the first such run since October 2011. Yet McInnes himself had endured the opposite trend away to his old club, losing five of his last six league visits to Pittodrie before this one, three of them in a row.

Aberdeen's Blunt Edge Persists

Stephen Robinson had promised "stability" and "continuity" going into the match, keeping the same eleven that beat Dundee 3-0 in the League Cup last time out. The performance that followed will not have eased concerns about his forward line. On BBC Sportsound, former Dons defender Mark Reynolds identified a "lack of penetration", a view the underlying numbers support: Aberdeen's open-play expected goals for the ninety minutes came to just 0.15. That is not an isolated struggle either - across their three league fixtures so far this season, their combined open-play xG sits at 0.71, barely a quarter of a goal per game.

There were flashes of promise. Happe couldn't quite direct a header on target from a chance at the back post, and Mitchy Ntelo drew a save from Ivor Pandur to his right-hand side, yet Aberdeen finished the afternoon with only two efforts on target in total.

Kim Min-su's Bright Start Amid the Grind

If McInnes needed one thing to feel positive about, it was the arrival of Kim Min-su, signed on Thursday and thrown straight into the starting line-up alongside Gassama and Findlay Curtis. The South Korean forward gave Rangers a different look going forward: Lewis Mayo produced a last-ditch block to deny him in the first half, and when Shankland tried to force home the loose ball, Afeez Aremu cleared it off the line. Later, Kim struck a dangerous free-kick from distance that Marius Muller had to tip over his crossbar. Elsewhere, Gassama - now more than a year into his Rangers spell - turned in one of his stronger displays for the club.

Where That Leaves Both Clubs

The table now shows Rangers seventh on four points from three matches, having won once, drawn once and lost once, with Aberdeen tenth on three points after two defeats from three outings. Telling, too, is that Muller finished with the highest average fan rating on the pitch at 6.31 - a stat that reflects almost as poorly on Aberdeen's night as it does well on his own. McInnes has plenty still to correct after a difficult week, and it remains to be seen whether Sunday's encouraging signs can turn into consistent form once Rangers face opponents who don't squander their own chances the way Aberdeen did in front of goal.

Research: This article uses the archived evidence supplied for this story. Story inspiration: BBC Sport's original report.