Aberdeen manager Barry Robson was left to rue a moment of real ‘quality’ from James Tavernier as the captain fired Rangers to victory in the Scottish League Cup final at Hampden Park. 
It was a week which started with Rangers going 1-0 down after five minutes at home to Dundee, and ended with the Glasgow giants only five points off the top of the table, in the Europa League knock-out stages, and with a trophy in the cabinet.
Even the most saccharine of Hollywood screenwriters would have struggled to come up with a week better than this, Philippe Clement picking up his first piece of silverware as Rangers manager just two months after replacing Mick Beale in the Ibrox dugout.
It was not a game which will live too long in the memory. But, with 76 minutes on the clock, captain fantastic James Tavernier lit up an otherwise dull encounter with a scissor kick finish few right-backs anywhere in Europe would have struggled to pull off.
Rangers beat Aberdeen in League Cup final
“The players gave us everything, that was clear,” sighed Robson, his Dons team unable to respond to Tavernier’s awesome acrobatics. “When you’ve got Rangers hanging in there at the end, kicking balls off the pitch it shows you what we tried to do. We want to come back and be in more finals.
“But that’s Rangers we’re playing. They’re a good side, with a good manager. Capable of beating Real Betis in Spain in the week. It’s a proper team we’re playing against, and Tavernier had that wee bit of quality to separate the teams.
“We gave it a go and I’m frustrated for the fans that we couldn’t get the ball over the line for them.
This was only Rangers’ second domestic cup triumph since 2011, and the first time they have claimed the League Cup in the last 12 years.
Clement, meanwhile, has needed only 14 games to pick up his first piece of silverware in the Ibrox dugout, a man who guided Genk and Club Brugge to the Belgian title adding another winners’ medal to his already enviable haul.
Philippe Clement wins first trophy as Ibrox boss
“It’s in the bank now. We have this one. The team has proven they can write history,” Clement tells BBC Sport. “We did that on Thursday (away to Real Betis) and again today. That is exceptional. We didn’t lose our concentration, despite that moment of ecstasy. That’s really important.
“Now, we have to confirm that we are growing over the next few weeks and months. We don’t speak about the title. That’s a marathon. We’ve been good in our two sprints so far – Seville and today. The rest of the season is a marathon – that’s a different sport. We need to focus on ourselves.
“We need to stay hungry and ambitious, to work hard and grow as a team and a club. If we do that, success comes automatically.”
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