Goals in each half from Thelo Aasgaard and a James Tavernier penalty eased Rangers to a 2-0 win at Aberdeen as Danny Röhl's in-form side closed the gap on Scottish Premiership leaders Heart of Midlothian to three points with a fifth straight victory.
The pressure was very much on the visitors after Hearts hung on to claim a narrow 1-0 victory at Dundee earlier in the day to extend their advantage to six points with their game in hand on the Glasgow giants.
However, despite travelling to Pittodrie, where they have struggled over the years, Rangers produced an accomplished performance to initially quieten the home faithful, before their greater quality shone through in the driving rain.
The key opening goal came midway through the first half following a cleverly worked short-corner routine as the unmarked Aasgaard swept home Jayden Meghoma's ball in from the right.
And the visitors would have gone in two up at half-time had Video Assistant Referee (VAR) John Beaton not asked referee David Dickinson to go over to the pitch-side monitor after Emmanuel Fernandez had appeared to outjump Dons 'keeper Dimitar Mitov to head home a high free kick into the area.
However, the officials decided Fernandez had used his elbow to foul Mitov, although that controversial call did not affect the result, with Rangers sealing a deserved win after Aberdeen captain Graeme Shinnie was judged to have caught Djeidi Gassama in the box.
The referee immediately pointed to the spot, with Tavernier keeping his cool - despite Mitov diving the right way - to plant the spot kick into the bottom lefthand corner for his 99th goal for the club to keep his side very much in this intriguing three-way title fight.
And that win, their 11th in their last 14 games, saw Rangers leapfrog third-in-the-table Celtic into second place on goal difference, albeit having played a game more than their archrivals.