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Rangers boss fumes over sending off

Rangers boss Walter Smith has criticized the linesman who intervened to ensure that Scotland midfielder Lee McCulloch was sent off in his side's 1-1 draw at Aberdeen on Sunday.

Although Rangers missed a chance to pull level with Celtic at the top of the table, Smith was delighted with the way his side performed after being reduced to 10 men and refused to criticize McCulloch over the off-the-ball kick on Scott Severin that resulted in a straight red card.

"It was a good point for us. I thought we were excellent overall and thoroughly deserved a point and possibly should have had three," Smith said.

Lee Miller's strike in first-half injury time secured a point for the home side after Charlie Adam had given Rangers the lead on the half hour mark.

McCulloch had provided the cross for Adam's close-range strike but that was to be his last positive contribution to the match.

Two minutes later, the former Wigan player was given a straight red card for kicking Severin as tempers boiled over following a crude challenge by Chris Clark on Alan Hutton.

Referee Kenny Clark did not see the incident but it was spotted by his assistant George Drummond.

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"A strange situation just now is that we have bits where linesmen want to be referees now," Smith said. "They're not happy for the referee to referee a game. That's the first time I've seen a linesman run 50 or 60 yards to tell the referee he has to send someone off."

"If the referee who's in a good position, possibly better than him, hasn't seen the incident, it has to go on," he said.

"It seems rather strange that the linesman won't run for the ball so why should he run on the pitch and tell the referee that someone has to be sent off," the Rangers manager said.

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Calderwood criticized his side's failure to exploit their numerical advantage.

"We didn't deserve to win it," he said. "We didn't create too many chances and they had a couple when big Kris [Boyd] came on in the second half."

"Our passing was woeful and we never really got going. All credit to Rangers, they played well. I'm disappointed in my own team," Calderwood said.

Aberdeen's equalizer came with the final move of the first half.

Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor failed to hold a cross from Richie Byrne and Miller nipped in to head the loose ball over the line.

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Despite their numerical advantage, Aberdeen were unable to dominate after the break and almost snatched all three points when defender Zander Diamond sliced a clearance in front of his own goal, only just clearing the crossbar.

Despite Sunday's setback, Rangers remain well-placed to reclaim the title from Celtic, who are two points clear at the top but have played two games more than their biggest rivals.

Celtic, who have taken only six points from their last five matches, were held to a 1-1 draw by Hibernian on Saturday.
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