Rangers are now 22 points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership after Alfredo Morelos’ double was enough to beat 10-man Aberdeen at Pittodrie.
Steven Gerrard’s side made it 15 league wins in a row as they bid to win a first top-flight title since 2011 and deny Celtic 10 championships in a row.
James Tavernier missed a penalty after Ryan Hedges was sent off, then Morelos scored either side of half-time.
Kennedy did pull one back for Aberdeen as they improved late on.
But Derek McInnes’ side’s six-game unbeaten run came to an end as they failed to narrow the gap on second-place Celtic.
Rangers, without a league loss all season and fresh from an Old Firm victory over Celtic, knew taking three points on Sunday would take them another step closer to the title.
And while Gerrard had suffered three defeats against Aberdeen, he had yet to lose at Pittodrie.
Between them, Rangers’ Morelos and Aberdeen’s Sam Cosgrove netted 52 times last season.
This term, their clinical edge has often deserted them, and in the early minutes the pair passed up golden opportunities – getting ahead of their markers to long balls but failing to test the goalkeeper.
While Rangers were not getting everything their own way, they were still making the better chances. Ianis Hagi whistled over, Ryan Kent’s free shot inside the box was cleared off the line by Jonny Hayes, and Joe Lewis denied Tavernier.
Aberdeen were repelling what was being thrown at them, but then they were down to 10 men before the half hour.
Hedges nicked the legs of Morelos in the box, sending him hurtling to the ground as he bore down on goal and referee John Beaton awarded the penalty and issued a red card. Tavernier, who had previously scored 10 times against Aberdeen, this time sent his spot-kick wide.
However, it was just a momentary let-off for the home side before Morelos collected a short ball, took a neat first touch, turned and fired low into the net.
Curtis Main was fortunate to escape a red card shortly afterwards when he took out Rangers’ Borna Barisic with his studs up. He received just a yellow, but his afternoon was over moments later when manager McInnes hauled him off.
It already looked like damage limitation for Aberdeen, and shortly after half-time it was 2-0. Another well-worked move allowed Morelos to latch on to a Kent backheel and smash the ball low into the net.
Kent and Hayes forced saves at both ends but, as the game looked to be comfortable for the visitors, Aberdeen pulled one back when Hayes raced at the defence and cut across to Kennedy, who finished low past Allan McGregor.
As time ticked on, Rangers looked tired – despite the extra man – and Aberdeen were getting more of the ball but could not hurt the visitors. And the best chance of the final stages fell to Rangers when Glen Kamara broke into the box and Lewis had to block his near-post shot.
