HIS goals have won Rangers myriad matches both domestically and in Europe during his time in Scotland and made him a hero to supporters of the Ibrox club.

But yesterday Alfredo Morelos, starting a game for the first time this year after completing a three match suspension and shaking off a calf strain, cost his side victory with his failings up front.

And his inability to either create or convert chances in the final third against Aberdeen look like having serious repercussions for Steven Gerrard’s side in the Scottish title race.

The Colombian, who appeared distinctly out-of-sorts from kick-off, was unable to pick out Ryan Kent in the visitors’ penalty box with a pass from the right in the first-half after his side had broken upfield.

In the second, the forward, who has plundered 28 goals in the 2019/20 campaign to date, couldn’t find the net after being supplied by Connor Goldson with a defence-splitting through ball inside the Aberdeen area.

His lapses, and those of his team mates, mean that Celtic can now pull seven points clear at the top of the league table if they defeat Hamilton away this afternoon.

There are, as Gerrard pointed out afterwards, still another two Old Firm matches to play. His men also have a game in hand at home to St Johnstone. But it is, given how poorly they have performed since returning to action after the winter shutdown, nigh on impossible to see them halting their city rivals now.

“We had some big moments in the game,” said the Rangers manager afterwards. “One in the first-half when we were in down the right. It was two v one and Alfredo has to find Ryan who would have a free shot on goal. That was a big moment in the first-half. Then obviously Alfredo’s own chance. He normally, 99 times out of 100, wins us the game in that situation.

“The Buff today with that chance looked to me like he’d missed a few games of football. I sit here every single week talking about how good he is. It is very rare that I sit here saying he didn’t deliver. Today he had the two big moments for us. Unfortunately, he couldn’t deliver.”

Morelos, however, wasn’t the only striker who didn’t show his usual predatory instincts. Sam Cosgrove, the Aberdeen player who has been on target 21 times this term, could easily have netted twice in the first-half alone. His misses cost the Pittodrie club what would have been a sweet win.

The Englishman didn’t get on the end of a cross from Niall McGinn in the fifth minute when he was just a few yards out. He then lost control of the ball with a poor touch after dispossessing Nikola Katic on the halfway line with just Allan McGregor to beat on the half hour mark.

If Cosgrove was the villain for Aberdeen then Joe Lewis was the hero. The goalkeeper produced a series of excellent saves, from Steven Davis, Morelos and Scott Arfield in the opening 45 minutes and then from Borna Barisic and Morelos after half-time. But Derek McInnes’s men merited their point.

McInnes has come under pressure from discontented Aberdeen supporters in recent weeks and had faced calls to be sacked after the 0-0 draw with St Mirren in Paisley six days earlier. But he insited he was always confident his men would come good. He is expecting a strong finish to the season now.

“It wasn't perfect because we haven't won,” he said. “But it was a good performance and we deserved the draw certainly. I thought we had the best chances, despite Rangers having the majority of the ball.

"I trust my players and believe in my squad. I can understand, at a certain level, the criticism, that comes with the territory, so we take our point, we knuckle down, We have been through tough spells before in my time here and I've shown, and my teams have shown, that we always come through it.

“I'm confident we'll deliver better performances in the second-half of the season. We are not far off third spot, where we want to be, and we still think there's more to come from us.”

The remaining months of the season only look set to bring Rangers more anguish and heartache now.