Aberdeen 3 - 0 Rangers

New manager, Jock Wallace, stepped on to tie pitch to acknowledge the cheers of the Rangers' supporters and then watched his team being dismantled by the Dons.

Pittodrie was bursting at the seams, with hundreds locked out, to welcome the red and light blue gladiators. The atmosphere was tingling and there was Wallace mania among the Ibrox legions. The drama in the stands was transferred to the pitch as the Dons opened in blistering fashion and took the lead in 5 minutes.
Weir's free-kick was knocked back by Mark McGhee to Neil Simpson and the young midfielder rifled a 20 yard shot well out of McCloy's reach. Wallace had breathed fire into his players but Aberdeen had switched on the early power. Four minutes later John Hewitt rubbed salt into the wound with a second goal. The keeper did well to parry a raging Weir drive but Hewitt was in the right spot (as he often was in his career at Pittodrie) to prod home the ball. Rangers did not take kindly to these setbacks and Redford was booked for fouling Doug Bell. McGhee did have the ball in the net again from a Gordon Strachan through ball but he was "flagged" for offside.
Rangers' manager was by now out on the touch-line bellowing instructions to his beleaguered troops. The "net result" was two more bookings within four minutes, Nicholl for dissent and Dawson for barging Hewitt. Disgruntled Rangers' fans were being constantly led away from the Beach End. Events off the field had taken precedence over the happenings on the pitch.

The Dons' fans gave Manager Ferguson a standing ovation before the game resumed. They had clearly not forgotten that he could have been sitting in the Rangers' dug-out today. Rangers restarted with an improved display and Jim Leighton had to act speedily to deprive McPherson of a goal as he dived at his feet to smother the ball. Then Weir was taken off to be replaced by Ian Porteous, while Rangers sent on Kennedy for Mitchell. Simpson was booked for dissent as the Dons pressed forward again in a bid to regain their earlier superiority.
Any thoughts Rangers had of clawing their way back into contention were dispelled in 68 minutes when young Porteous scored a wonderful goal. Bell found him unmarked out on the right and his angled drive from all of 25 yards flew like a rocket past McCloy and rebounded into the net off the far post. Rangers then substituted Russell for Cooper. Aberdeen were now coasting and Ian Angus replaced Hewitt, who appeared to have aggravated his hamstring injury. The second half had not been as breathtaking and exciting as the first 45 minutes but the result pleased the Aberdeen fans, as their heroes were now top of the league, 12 points ahead of Rangers, an astonishing margin of difference at this early stage of the season.

Source: Match Programme, 12th May 1993