Rangers relief at Aberdeen gives McInnes a first league win to build on

"Probably for the first time this season, I really, really enjoyed watching the team." Derek McInnes said that after Rangers beat Aberdeen 1-0 at Pittodrie on 30 August 2026, a result secured by L. Shankland's second-half penalty in the 69th minute. It was Rangers' first league win for McInnes, and it came after only two wins in seven matches before the trip.

McInnes' reaction after Pittodrie

McInnes was asked to make sense of a week that had left Rangers under pressure after European elimination, and his own read was straightforward. "You need to compete and bring quality, and I thought we did all that," he said, before adding: "It's small steps in terms of points and performance. It will do the players the world of good."

That is a fair reading of the evening. Rangers did not blow Aberdeen away, but they controlled enough of the game to leave with three points, and Aberdeen failed to score at all. L. Shankland also delivered the only goal, with a rating of 6.3, while Rangers got the type of result that stops a run from becoming a crisis.

Kim's debut and the wider squad mood

The brighter individual note came from Kim Min-Su, who made his debut after just one training session with his new team-mates. The 20-year-old South Korean was reported to have cost £8.5m, and he immediately looked involved, with a 7.2 debut rating and 3 shots on target from 4 attempts.

Djeidi Gassama was another positive. He posted a 7.3 rating and 3 successful dribbles, which gave Rangers a bit more direct threat than they have shown in recent weeks. McInnes also said, "We're still trying to react to the Youssef [Chermiti] situation," a reminder that the squad still needs time and, probably, more help before the football starts looking comfortable.

The selection talk is not going away either. Nico Raskin was again left out of the squad for Pittodrie, and McInnes said there had been no offers for him. Rangers are also trying to react to Youssef Chermiti’s long-term injury, with McInnes saying the club are pretty close on bringing in a target before Wednesday’s game away to Falkirk.

Boyd's point on BBC was that the result mattered most, and he was right about that much. The performance was a bitty one, but the win gives McInnes a cleaner starting point than the one he had before kick-off at Aberdeen vs Rangers.