Pedro Caixinha says his Rangers side were made to suffer at times against Aberdeen but it paid off because they knew when to allow it.

Three late goals sealed the points at Pittodrie as a Kenny Miller brace and Joe Dodoo strike earned a 3-0 win for the visitors.

The result sees Rangers close the gap on Aberdeen to nine points as they chase second spot in the Scottish Premiership.

Derek McInnes' men put them under immense pressure at the start of the second half but couldn't break the deadlock.

Caixinha explained at full time how Rangers weathered the storm and turned the game on its head against the run of play.

"I can describe the game with two words - organisation and sacrifice," he said.

"I think the team understood perfectly well the opponents that they were facing and what they needed to do throughout the match.

"When it was needed to suffer, the team knew when to suffer especially in the first 15 or 20 minutes in the second half.

"We needed to make decisions at that moment because Aberdeen were taking risks and exposing their two full-backs and we knew the time to exploit the space they were conceding.

"I am glad the game went and finished how it did."

The Rangers boss is still hopeful of leapfrogging Aberdeen into second place but he understands they have to maintain a similar level of form to their Pittodrie performance.

"We knew we had still two more games against Aberdeen," he added. "We have now won the first one but if we don't continue winning before the next game then maybe things will be different.

"That is what we need to do, keep winning and then beat them again but our focus is always on our next match and now we will have to look right away at our next opponent on Saturday."