Aberdeen's dire run of results was worsened further by Rangers as Hamza Igamane's first-half strike and injury-time goals from Leon Balogun and Cyriel Dessers extended the winless streak to 12 games.

Earlier this season, the Dons went 11 games unbeaten, but that's now been surpassed in what was a flat performance by Jimmy Thelin's men that never got going at Ibrox.

It was a far different performance to the one that downed the Light Blues at Pittodrie less than three months ago, with the Reds still fourth in the table after missing the chance to leapfrog Dundee United into third.

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Vaclav Cerny was sent through on goal in the first chance of the game before James McGarry stalled the winger's charge, with Ianis Hagi sending an effort from the resultant corner well over Ross Doohan's goal.

Clinton Nsiala gifted the Dons a chance by giving away possession, but Kevin Nisbet's cross was blocked before Hamza Igamane rolled an effort inches wide of the post at the other end.

Rangers were strolling towards the goal, with Jefte's cross forced out before Igamane's shot was blocked by Leighton Clarkson, with shouts for handball swiftly dismissed.

But back came Rangers and this time they got the goal, with Sivert Heltne Nislen failing to control the ball as Cerny charged into the danger area and teed up Mohamed Diomande.

His strike was blocked, but Igamane had no troubles burying the rebound, and for Aberdeen it had been an opening 15 minutes to forget.

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Defeat at Ibrox would see them extend their winless run to 12 games - one more than the 11-match run without victory under Mark McGhee in 2010.

And in 10 games when the Reds have conceded first, they have only won one of those back in May 2024 against Livingston at Pittodrie.

Aberdeen had to find a way back into the game, and Jeppe Okkels looked to carve out a chance only to fire his cross into the arms of Rangers keeper Liam Kelly.

The hosts were storming through gaps in the Dons defence, with Ridvan Yilmaz given acres of space to feed the ball to Cerny before Czech blasted his strike wide.

An astonishing effort from Clarkson almost left Ibrox silenced, as he hammered the ball up the pitch and almost caught out Kelly, but the keeper prevented a long-distance stunner with the save.

Hagi cut open the defence with a precise pass to send Danilo goal-bound, but Doohan's superb stop denied Rangers a second, with their attack barely meeting any resistance.

There were signs of life from the Dons however as Graeme Shinnie's dangerous cross sparked a panic from Kelly, who reacted slowly before dealing with the threat; Kevin Nisbet was unable to meet the ball and aim an effort on target.

Kristers Tobers picked up the first yellow card of the game after a heavy touch saw Hagi charged towards the ball, with the Latvian wiping out the Rangers midfielder with a trailing leg in the process.

Igamane and Danilo linked up to carve out the next chance for Rangers on the approach to half-time, with the former forcing Doohan into another fine stop.

Nsiala was next to go into the book for a late foul on Nisbet, and soon after Tobers managed to forced a save from Kelly, with the centre-half's header from Clarkson's corner one of Aberdeen's better chances to grab an equaliser.

A late charge forward from Rangers was easily gathered and with that despite one of their poorer performances Aberdeen only trailed 1-0 come the break thanks to Doohan's five saves - the most in any match yet by the Dons keeper.

But if Thelin was going to take something from his first trip to Ibrox as Aberdeen manager he was going to need to get his side firing on all fronts.

Nedim Bajrami, the Light Blues' goalscorer in their 2-1 defeat at Pittodrie, replaced Danilo at the interval, and soon after the restart his teammate Nicolas Raskin was left enraged after being cautioned by Kevin Clancy for bringing Shinnie down.

Nisbet's ball to Topi Keskinen set up the Finn for a chance at goal, but Kelly won the race to the ball, before Bajrami's cross to Hagi was booted clear by Nicky Devlin.

The resultant corner however soon led to penalty shouts from the home support, but VAR deemed nothing wrong with Tobers' clearance despite Raskin going down in the box.

Hagi took aim from distance but his strike could only graze the crossbar on the way into the stands as Duk and debutant Alfie Dorrington were readied for action.

Bajrami came inches away from Rangers' second, curling two thunderous efforts wide of the bar as the half-time substitute looked to wrap up the points for Philippe Clement's side.

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Off came Ante Palaversa and Nisbet, with Nilsen moving forward into the midfield as the Tottenham Hotspur loanee Dorrington made his first outing in the Reds defence looking to impress a so far largely unimpressed travelling support.

Rangers had won 10 of their 11 home games before this fixture - only dropping points against Dundee United - and with 65 minutes gone there was little sign of it happening a second time.

Shayden Morris was also sent on by Thelin in place of Keskinen, and he was the hero of the day when he scored the winner against Rangers in October, but he would have to pull off some almighty heroics to make it a double over the Ibrox outfit.

In the final Dons changes, Alexander Jensen, who received his permit in the nick of time, replaced McGarry for his debut just two days after arriving at Aberdeen, as Dante Polvara replaced Jeppe Okkels.

Another outstanding save from Doohan denied Cerny as he took aim while twisting and turning in the box before Clarkson was booked for a late challenge on Ridvan Yilmaz, with VAR satisfied with the sanction.

Slack passing had been the killer for Aberdeen all night, but Jensen offered exactly what had been missing with an impressive break forward before feeding the ball to Morris who won a corner.

However it was floated straight into Kelly's arms despite several Reds storming into the box before Duk almost managed to turn a cross into the box into the goal.

Two more corners for Aberdeen came and went, with Kelly once again claiming the ball comfortably, as the visitors finally upped the tempo in search of an equaliser with less than 10 minutes to play.

Nilsen was next to be booked before a dangerous cross by Rangers evaded everyone in the Dons box, with Bajrami denied by Doohan as he looked to sneak the ball in at the near post.

Leon Balogun, on for the final 15 minutes, rattled a header off the post before Cerny again came storming forward only to change direction and blast the ball into the defence.

Seven minutes were added on, and in those seven minutes Aberdeen looked like they were going to have to stop an inevitable second for Rangers who swung the momentum back their way after Balogun's effort was cleared just feet away from the line by Devlin.

At the third time of asking though, Balogun secured the points as his towering header dealt the final blow for Aberdeen and ensured the points would be staying in Govan.

Dessers rubbed salt in the wounds by coming off the bench in the dying seconds to net the third, with Doohan - who had been the standout performer all night - unable to do anything about his strike.

Elgin City are up next for Thelin's men on Saturday as they prepare for their first taste of Scottish Cup action, and they will be hoping to finally put an end to their winless run against the League Two side.

But for Aberdeen they have now gone from 11 games unbeaten to 12 without a single victory, and things will need to improve in the coming weeks if the European ambition is to remain well and truly alive.