Rangers have won the Scottish League Cup for the first time in 12 years after beating Aberdeen 1-0 at Hampden Park on Sunday afternoon.
Captain James Tavernier turned up and delivered on the big occasion once again for the Gers as he netted the decisive goal in the 76th minute, arriving at the back post to fire a right-footed shot beyond Kelle Roos.
Having previously lifted the 2021 Scottish Premiership title and 2022 Scottish Cup during his legendary eight-year spell at Rangers, Tavernier has now completed the set of major trophies in Scotland by adding the Scottish League Cup to his collection.
The 32-year-old right-back has also increased his goal tally for the season to 14 in all competitions, level with Abdallah Sima, with his latest strike enough for Gers manager Philippe Clement to celebrate his first piece of silverware at the club just two months after his appointment.
Rangers have now won a record-extending 28 Scottish League Cups, seven more than their nearest challengers and bitter Glaswegian rivals Celtic, while Aberdeen's wait to win the competition for the first time since 2014 goes on.
Butting heads in the Scottish League Cup final for the first time since 1992, Rangers and Aberdeen made a frantic start to this year's showpiece event in front of a noisy Hampden Park crowd, but there was little to separate the two sides in a keenly-contested first half.
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The 78th final was one that lacked quality in the final third, particularly from Aberdeen who failed to register a single shot on target throughout the 90 minutes despite probing in and around Rangers' box for much of the contest.
Aberdeen's best chance came in the 54th minute when right wing-back Nicky Devlin curled an inviting cross across the six-yard box, but Ester Sokler somehow failed to make contact at the back post.
Rangers then turned the screw as the contest entered the final 25 minutes, with Roos forced to keep out decent efforts from Ross McCausland and Cyriel Dessers before pushing away free kicks from Tavernier and Borna Barisic.
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Leon Balogun then fired over from close range, but Tavernier popped up in trademark fashion to fire Rangers in front 14 minutes from time, meeting a deep cross from Barisic before taking a touch and directing his strike into the ground beyond Roos at his near post, sparking wild scenes from the Rangers supporters behind the goal.
Rangers managed to navigate their way through 10 minutes of stoppage time to hold on for a hard-fought victory, and Clement will hope that their Scottish League Cup triumph can act as a springboard for further success this season in the Scottish Premiership, Scottish Cup and Europa League.
After finishing top of their Europa League group, beating Real Betis 3-2 in Spain on Thursday, Rangers will not discover their last-16 opponents until the draw takes place on February 24.
Rangers begin their Scottish Cup campaign on January 20 against fourth-tier outfit Dumbarton, but they will now shift their focus back to the Premiership and have the chance to climb to the summit above Celtic – who lost 2-0 at home to Hearts on Saturday – if they win their two games in hand, starting with next Wednesday's clash against St Johnstone at Ibrox.
Oliver Thomas
