Lorenzo Amoruso's stunning strike earned Rangers a 1-0 win at Aberdeen in a game which had been held up for 17 minutes because of crowd trouble.

Both sides are now likely to face punishment by the football authorities because of the behaviour of their supporters.

Aberdeen's Robbie Winters had been hit by a missile thrown from the Rangers section and home fans were seen to leave one end of the stadium to try to confront their rivals before riot police moved in.

It was a scene which had not been witnessed in Scotland for a number of seasons.

The goal from Amoruso, who had tried to quell the unrest, was the highlight of a largely uneventful 90 minutes on the pitch.

The animosity between the two clubs dates back to the 1970s and intensified a decade later when Rangers midfielder Ian Durrant suffered a serious injury following a reckless challenge by Neil Simpson.

A Pittodrie fixture in November 2000 added a new chapter when Fernando Ricksen was caught on camera aiming a kung-fu kick at Darren Young.

The Dutchman became the first player in Scotland to be punished for an offence using solely video evidence as referee Mike McCurry had missed the incident.

Eyebrows were raised when McCurry was appointed for today's game and the potential for trouble was more than evident by the sight of riot police in headgear on the streets before kick-off.

The match itself had already seen Young lectured for clattering Ronald de Boer and then Ricksen in a matter of seconds, and after 24 minutes the trouble began.

Winters was about to take a corner in front of the away fans when missiles started being thrown at him.

While Amoruso, the fans' favourite, tried to calm the supporters down, McCurry ran across the pitch to report the incident to Police and the fourth official.

The game was about to restart when Winters was hit on the head by a coin and a rabble of home fans took this as a cue to leave the stand behind the Aberdeen end to make a charge for the away supporters.

Police intervened and McCurry immediately took both teams off. They were to remain in the dressing room for a further 17 minutes, during which time more than 50 of the riot police arrived to form a stand-long cordon.

Rangers had done most of the early attacking, with Claudia Caniggia having a goal chalked off for offside.

The ball was in the back of the Aberdeen net again 10 minutes after play had resumed - and this time it counted, with Amoruso the scorer with a stunning strike.

The defender's long-range shooting had been woeful in the midweek Scottish Cup embarrassment at Berwick.

But on this occasion, he cleverly slipped the ball from one foot to another to fool Cato Guntveit and crash the ball in from some 30 yards before Eugene Dadi could challenge.

Peter Kjaer in the Aberdeen goal hardly moved.

De Boer almost set up a second with a cross from the right which evaded the home defence - and both Tore Andre Flo and Caniggia.

Rangers almost had another goal when Caniggia lofted the ball over the home defence to put Flo in. But de Boer had strayed fractionally offside to get there first and the whistle had already gone before Barry Ferguson netted.

Aberdeen's best chance of the half came just before the break Dadi sent Darren Mackie through only for the youngster to make things difficult for himself with a poor first touch.

That allowed Stefan Klos to come off his line and force him wide, and although Mackie managed to take the ball round the goalkeeper, the angle was too narrow for him to find anything other than the sidenetting.

Aberdeen started strongly after the break, with Mackie seeing a shot blocked by Ricksen after Klos had punched the ball to him under pressure from Dadi.

Then Dadi headed over from Winters' cross after a good ball from Young had opened up the Rangers defence down the left.

Rangers replied with a couple of free-kicks conceded in dangerous positions by defenders having trouble coping with Shota Arvleadze down the left.

But Ferguson fired the first into the sidenetting and Amoruso found only the wall with his effort.

Amazingly, the first booking did not arrive until 67 minutes had passed and it was Flo, a player critics accuse of being too soft, was the man who received it for hacking down Philip McGuire.

Kevin McNaughton prevented a Rangers second when he was in the right place to clear a de Boer effort off the line after the Dutchman had flicked the ball goalwards at the near post.

The match also marked Alex McLeish's first return as Rangers manager to the club where he was so successful as a player.

He had been expecting abuse from the fans who used to idolise him, but received an ovation instead although the spirit of goodwill was to last less than half-an-hour.

Teams

Aberdeen: Kjaer, McNaughton, McGuire (Anderson 83), Whyte, McAllister, Derek Young, Darren Young, Guntveit, Winters, Mackie (Clark 85), Dadi (Thornley 79).

Subs Not Used: Esson, Tiernan.

Rangers: Klos, Moore, Amoruso, Vidmar, Ricksen, Ferguson, Konterman, de Boer, Caniggia, Flo, Arveladze.

Subs Not Used: Christiansen, Mols, McCann, Ross, Hughes.

Booked: Flo.

Goals: Amoruso 36.

Att: 17,846

Ref: M McCurry (Scotland).