A REMARKABLE stoppage-time free-kick goal from James Maddison gave Aberdeen a 2-1 win over Sevco Rangers at Pittodrie this afternoon.
Mark Warburton’s side are now outwith the top six and haven’t won in their past four league outings since beating Motherwell with a last-minute winner.
They are now seven points behind champions Celtic who have a game in hand and lead the Premiership by five points from Hearts.
The game at Pittodrie was locked in a goalless stalemate at the interval, but within a minute of the turnaround Jonny Hayes put the Dons ahead as he raced clear on the left before tucking the ball beyond Wes Foderingham.
Andy Halliday equalised from the penalty spot before Maddison sent a 25-yard free-kick soaring into the top right-hand corner for the winner.
A raging Warburton confronted referee John Beaton on the pitch at the final whistle and could now be in trouble with the powers-that-be.
The Ibrox outfit, who were making noises about overthrowing Celtic’s domination of Scotland before the start of the season, have now won only two league games – both by the odd goal against Dundee and Motherwell.
They sit on nine points in seventh place on nine points behind Well and Ross County who have a better goal difference, mostly thanks to Mousa Dembele who became the first Celtic player since John Guidetti to score a hat trick in a Glasgow derby. The Swede managed it against the more established Patrick Thistle.
Warburton’s team, in fact, are only four points better off than joint-bottom Partick Thistle and Hamilton and both these clubs will have the league’s new club in their sights as the winter relegation dog fight gets underway.
The Firhill side can cut that gap to one if they beat the new Govania club at Ibrox on Saturday.
Meanwhile there’s still some copies of Once Upon A Time in the Kingdom of Govania – the story of the two Ibrox clubs with all the splendid character who served up our jelly and ice cream in 2012 and their successors who are the unquestionably the Statement Kings of Scottish football.
Available now at www.cqnbookstore.com
