RANGERS' last championship challenge died at Pittodrie in May and their new one took its first stumble on the same turf yesterday.

They have now won only once in their last seven visits to Aberdeen and if they had grounds for complaint yesterday - a dominant first-half show and a stoppage time "goal" that should not have been disallowed - it will serve them better to examine how they took only one point from a match that should have yielded three.

Rangers are a work in progress and a killer instinct has still to be found. If they were smooth and convincing in the first half they were too easily knocked out of their stride in the second and, overall, offered too little threat going into next Sunday's Old Firm game at Parkhead.

Aberdeen might have been punished for standing back to admire the passing of Pedro Mendes, Kevin Thomson and debutant Steven Davis in the first 45, but every coach in the SPL will have been intrigued by how some bite and close marking brought them back into the game and strangled Rangers towards mediocrity.

As soon as they lost their early lead Rangers' self-confidence looked fragile.

"It's early days for us yet," said Walter Smith, still looking for his first victory in the north-east since returning to Rangers.

"The performance today was better than it was the last few occasions we have been up here. We are happy with the way the team is developing. Although it is early in the season we are showing that we are attempting to pass the ball well.

"I am disappointed that having had such control of the game in the first half we didn't get an extra goal or two. That is something we will have to look at."

For an Aberdeen-Rangers game at Pittodrie it was competitive, but no more than that. There was barely a controversy until the very end when DaMarcus Beasley connected with a Mendes cross to "score", but only after linesman Billy Baxter wrongly flagged for offside against Kris Boyd.

Boyd was not interfering with play and play should have continued, although Aberdeen's defenders switched off when they heard the whistle. One wag suggested that if Boyd was deemed to be "active" it was the only time he was active all day. It was not his finest display.

The most surprising aspect of Rangers' opening goal from David Weir was that it took them 23 minutes to score it.

Long before Weir connected with Thomson's free-kick with a firm header past Jamie Langfield, Rangers had taken control of the play and settled into a rhythm of assured, unchallenged passing.

Nacho Novo was bundled by Andrew Considine for the free-kick which led to the goal, one of Aberdeen's frequent unforced errors.

Kyle Lafferty's injury left space for Novo to join Boyd up front, with Kenny Miller back in the side but in midfield.

It seemed a good day to be a Rangers striker given the ease with which their midfielders were playing through Aberdeen to create a promising supply line in the first half. Novo, Mendes and Boyd all threatened with shots as Aberdeen seemed to be waiting for the inevitable.

Their tactic of pumping high and long balls at the Rangers defence was baffling given that the visitors' back line contained four tall centre halves, and even allowing for Lee Miller's ability to win more than his fair share in the air the ploy seemed destined to fail.

Aberdeen's midfield stood off as Mendes, Davis and Thomson passed it around. It had been a while since Rangers had it so easy at Pittodrie, but all that changed.

They were cruising towards half time when they were robbed of the lead from Aberdeen's first meaningful attack. Jamie Smith took a throw-in to the head bandaged Charlie Mulgrew, and the left-back's deep cross flew over Weir to Miller who connected with a close-range header.

Allan McGregor reacted excellently to deny him but the rebound fell for Derek Young to lash a shot into the roof of the net.

It was a goal which had a profound effect on the rest of the match. Aberdeen could not have dared to hope that Young's equaliser would result in Rangers fading out of it as they did. All it took was far closer physical attention and aggression from the Aberdeen midfield to break up Rangers' flow and cut off many of their moves at the root.

That allowed a platform for Jamie Smith, Lee Miller and Darren Mackie to start going at Rangers and putting them on the back foot far more effectively than they had previously.

Novo burst clear and stabbed a shot wide and Langfield was almost caught by Boyd after a miscontrol when the ball was at his feet, but Aberdeen were a presence too even if they never really hurt the Rangers defence.

The only time they did feel pain was literal, when Mackie chased down a Miller flick on and hurt McGregor as he lunged to try to connect with the ball. McGregor was brave in saving but he needed treatment before he could continue.

The decision on Beasley's "goal" meant that he had 4000 fellow sufferers on the journey home.

Aberdeen substitutes: Duff for Mackie 81, Wright for Smith 89. Subs not used: Bossu, de Visscher, Paton, Maguire, Mair.

Booked: Mackie 56, Considine 90. Rangers substitutes: Darcheville for Novo 74, Beasley for Miller 81. Subs not used: Alexander, Whittaker, Aaron, Furman, Fleck. Booked: none.

Att: 16,849. Referee: C Thomson.