It was never expected to last long as a contest, but less than two minutes defied even the wildest predictions as a serious injury to Jim Leighton turned the Scottish Cup final into a farce.
Rangers were 1-8 to win beforehand but those odds went off the scale as 41-year-old Aberdeen keeper Leighton, in the last game of his roller coaster career, suffered one final dip in fortune. Leighton sustained a suspected broken jaw after a second-minute collision with Rod Wallace and Aberdeen, with no keeper listed among only three substitutes, were faced with a nightmare scenario. Robbie Winters, a striker, came on as substitute and took to field wearing second choice Ryan Esson's shirt as a makeshift keeper leaving the Dons at once primed for a severe defeat. They survived the first half with only the loss of a Giovanni Van Bronckhorst strike after 35 minutes, but Rangers started the second half with a goal blitz of three strikes in five minutes.
Tony Vidmar struck first after 47 minutes with a shot from just inside the area, before Billy Dodds nodded in a third and Jorg Albertz thumped in a fourth to leave the Dons reeling. Rangers, who finished 57 points higher than bottom club Aberdeen in winning the Scottish Premier League, might well have won regardless yet may consider this something of a hollow triumph. Manager Dick Advocaat also failed to include a keeper among his three substitutes and today's non-event will surely prompt calls to the Scottish Football Association for a rule change. Rangers looked to be set fair to surpass Celtic's 1972 record Scottish Cup final win of 6-1 over Hibernian, but could never quite bring themselves to be ruthless enough. Craig Moore passed a late fitness test to start for Rangers after being ruled out earlier in the week because of a serious knee injury, but that was merely a prelude to the Hampden Park drama.
The match took a sensational twist as Andrei Kanchelskis's second-minute cross from the right saw Wallace make that fateful accidental lunge at Leighton. It was a dreadful way for Leighton's distinguished career to come to an end and an extraordinary challenge for Winters after the disappointment of being left out of the side in attack. Leighton's previous low was being dropped out of the Manchester United side for the 1990 FA Cup replay with Crystal Palace, but today perhaps was more agonising given this was his swansong. Albertz was the first to fire a shot at Winters after 15 minutes, but his angled drive drifted well wide of the mark, while moments later he made his first save from a Kanchelskis drive. A weaving Kanchelskis run after 22 minutes set up Wallace for a clear shooting chance and his fierce strike cannoned off the bar as the luck seemed to begin to favour Aberdeen. A late challenge from Russell Anderson on Barry Ferguson after 34 minutes then gave Rangers an injury scare, but the Scotland international was able to continue. From the resulting free-kick, however, the Dons were punished as Albertz played in Van Bronckhorst whose 35th-minute effort left Winters powerless and he could only help the ball into the net.
It might be argued a regular keeper would have saved the shot, but Winters can point to an alarming lack of defensive cover as Rangers somewhat belatedly moved ahead. Aberdeen were forced into a second substitution after 41 minutes when Anderson, injured in fouling Ferguson, limped off to be replaced by Rachid Belabed. The stoppage for Leighton's injury led to a remarkable nine minutes of stoppage time, the main action of which was a booking for Derek Whyte for crashing into Dodds. Rangers wasted no time in adding to their advantage after the break, Kanchelskis hooking the ball back into the area and Jamie McAllister's header went only as far as Vidmar. The Australian had time to control the ball before firing into the roof of the net with Winters able to do nothing but watch the ball soar past his reach for 2-0 on 47 minutes. That became 3-0 just two minutes later when an Albertz corner picked out an unmarked Dodds at the far post and his header cleared Winters and landed in the top right-hand corner. Incredibly it became a humiliating 4-0 with a third goal just a minute later which came from a powerful Albertz strike that bounced off the underside of the bar and over the line. Dodds and Wallace both followed the loose ball in, but television pictures proved it was well over the line before they intervened and Rangers had scored three goals in five minutes.
Rangers almost made it five after 58 minutes when another Albertz corner found Dodds whose header bounced off the bar as set-pieces, as expected, became a real problem for Aberdeen. It was shoot on sight for Rangers now and Albertz almost netted again on the hour when his deflected effort went just wide, while Moore sent a header over from the corner. Rangers brought on Neil McCann for Wallace while Hicham Zeroauli came on for Stavrum, but the only introduction of real note was a 68th-minute streaker from the Aberdeen support.
The Ibrox outfit were getting in each other's way now as substitute Tugay Kerimoglu would have netted in the 75th minute but for Ferguson's inadvertent block. Rangers played keep-ball in the closing stages knowing the domestic double was safe as their fans, almost all wearing orange in tribute to Dutch manager Dick Advocaat, celebrated. There was a defiant response from the Aberdeen faithful who launched into a mass conga as Tugay slotted wide in the 86th minute with Rangers in leisurely pursuit of a fifth goal. Winters enjoyed a rare moment of joy with a fine one-handed save from Dodds in the 88th minute, but one thing was clear: the rules must be changed to prevent a game of football like this again.
