Aberdeen lack adventure with tough tests to come
· Yahoo Sports
Having watched Aberdeen v Rangers games at Pittodrie for four decades, it is difficult to remember too many where the home side was quite as standoffish as they were in Sunday's 1-0 defeat.
Rangers arrived in the north-east on Friday, flying straight from the scene of the crime after their insipid Conference League qualifying exit to Jablonec and appeared to be going into the game with little-to-no confidence.
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This wasn't actually a bad Aberdeen performance overall, and the way they started suggested they were going to take the game to Derek McInnes' side.
But that didn't materialize. It was conservative as Rangers took control with their new signing Kim Minsu providing a threat the Dons hadn't bargained on, the South Korean making his debut and giving his team a much-needed spark.
Much has been made about decisions going against the hosts and there were one or two shirt pulls that probably should have resulted in bookings for Rangers players but generally, the big decisions were called correctly.
Dan Happe's clumsy challenge on Djeidi Gassama was a penalty every day of the week and it ultimately cost his team the game.
Former Dons' defender Mark Reynolds alongside me in the gantry felt Kevin Nisbet had been impeded by Dujon Sterling up the other end but those appeals were waved away.
When Nisbet headed home what looked like a late equaliser it was brought back for a shove on Sterling, but even if you consider that to be harsh on the Dons' captain, he was offside later in that phase of play anyway.
With the dust settled on that game, Aberdeen go to Celtic Park on Wednesday, a fixture they haven't won in the league in an eye-watering 28 attempts.
September looks to be a seriously challenging month for Stephen Robinson and the shape they are in by the end of it will set the tone for the rest of the club's season.