Shankland's penalty gives Rangers their first league win of the season

A win after a difficult week

Rangers captain Lawrence Shankland scored from the penalty spot in the 69th minute, firing into the top corner to give his side a 1-0 away win over Aberdeen at Pittodrie. It was Rangers' first Scottish Premiership win of the season, after taking just one point from their opening two league games.

The penalty and the VAR call

The penalty was won by Djeidi Gassama, who according to Sky Sports was brought down in the box by Aberdeen defender Daniel Happe. Earlier, Rangers had their best chance of the game in the 38th minute, when Afeez Aremu made a goal-line clearance after a Gassama-led counter-attack involving Minsu Kim.

In the second half, Aberdeen captain Kevin Nisbet headed home what appeared to be an equaliser, but the goal was disallowed by VAR after it was judged he had pushed Rangers defender Dujon Sterling to gain leverage. Sky Sports places the incident around the 83rd minute, with the goal ruled out after an on-field review at the 86th minute, while the Guardian dates the disallowed goal to the 81st minute.

A new manager, a tough start

Rangers are now managed by Derek McInnes, who joined from Hearts in the summer and previously managed Aberdeen himself. It has been a rocky start to his tenure — in midweek, Rangers were eliminated from European competition after a penalty shootout defeat to Jablonec. Following the win at Aberdeen, McInnes said it was the first time this season he had truly enjoyed watching his team play, praising new signing Minsu Kim, a 20-year-old South Korean winger who joined from Girona on Thursday for a reported fee of around £8.5m and made a strong full debut before being substituted in the second half. McInnes has brought in 12 new players at the club over the summer.

Transfer news

According to STV News, Rangers have rejected an offer from Turkish club Beşiktaş for Belgian midfielder Nicolas Raskin. Raskin has missed the last two games but is expected to feature against Falkirk on Wednesday. McInnes said Raskin has trained impeccably despite the transfer speculation, and added that he still expects one more signing before the window closes, with Venezuelan forward Kevin Kelsy reportedly close to a move.