Aberdeen boss 'frustrated' not to have beaten Rangers

Aberdeen manager Stephen Glass admitted to frustration at drawing 1-1 with Rangers when he felt his team should have won the Premiership clash.

Ianis Hagi opened the scoring for Rangers just seconds after Aberdeen were denied a penalty at Pittodrie, but the Dons fought back to level from the spot in the second half and push for a winner after Ryan Kent was sent off for the visitors.

Glass was convinced his side should have been awarded a spot kick before Rangers’ goal when Ryan Hedges was caught by Allan McGregor when racing into the box to get on the end of a long ball. The Aberdeen boss said he won’t pursue an explanation for the decision but said that the officials had given him conflicting accounts of the incident.

“I don’t even look for [an explanation] any more,” he said. “The linesman said there wasn’t enough contact for a penalty and the referee said there was no contact.

“I won’t waste my time asking for an explanation.”

The Dons manager was disappointed with his side losing concentration after the decision and losing the opening goal, but was fulsome in his praise of the overall performance.

“I think that’s the one point of the game where we switched off for ten or 20 seconds and you get punished by a right good team,” Glass said. “That’s the one thing we can question the players on tonight but everything else was fantastic: their effort, their quality, their energy.

“I’m pleased with the boys but I’m disappointed for them that they don’t get what they really deserved.

“I feel like we should have got three points. When we go a goal behind to the reigning champions it’s always a good point but it’s frustrating we didn’t get three.”

Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst saw his winning streak come to an end but accepted a draw was a positive result in the circumstances.

“It’s a tough game and in the end we are taking a point with us,” he told STV.

“Especially in the last ten minutes with ten men, they were pushing really hard for the win and I think we defended well as a team and made sure we didn’t concede another goal.

“We knew before it was going to be a hard game. On the ball we were not as dominant as we want but you know it’s difficult in a place like this.

“I think especially when we were 1-0 up I think we should have created more but we weren’t as accurate on the ball as we normally are. It can happen, and you have to make sure you get a result.

“I don’t know. It’s a difficult one. I saw he had a handball and the ref decides it’s a penalty so you can discuss it all you want but it is what it is and we accept it and move on.”