DUNDEE UTD.....1 RANGERS......... 2
Hard work in training paying off for Tavernier as Rangers captain scores his 17th goal of campaign
JAMES TAVERNIER continues to find ways to amaze. Week by week, t he captain keeps raising the standard to ensure Rangers march on at the top of the Premiership.
The 17th goal of this season of his life was among the very best yet witnessed. From around 30 yards, Tavernier swept home an outstanding free-kick that left Benjamin Seigrist clawing at thin air. Right now, the Ibrox right-back believes pretty much anything is possible.
That sublime strike delivered a first-half lead. When it was lost to Liam Smith’s fine equaliser — the first league goal Rangers had conceded since September 27 — Tavernier stepped forward again.
Another pinpoint set-piece was headed home by Connor Goldson just before the break to restore an advantage the Ibrox men couldn’t extend, despite their dominance. Enough had already been done, however, to keep intact a 13-point lead over Celtic.
Steven Gerrard’s multitalented side are anything but a one-man band. Even so, Tavernier’s contribution is astonishing. With 13 assists, the 29-year-old Englishman has now either set up or scored 30 of Rangers’ 75 goals this term. That’s a 40-per- cent involvement. By a player who is nominally a defender.
It’s a truly remarkable situation, but Tavernier believes something simple lies behind it. Good old-fashioned hard work.
‘I really enjoyed the free-kick,’ he admitted. ‘Especially with the distance it was at.
‘I was practising yesterday and I’m really happy it came through today. We are always trying ing to make ourselves better in every area when we are on the training pitch.
‘I’m pushing Borna (Barisic) and he’s pushing me. Everyone wants to be taking free-kicks and it is a good, healthy kind of competition.’
Having now equalled his best- ever goal haul in a season, Tavernier may yet take some shifting from the summit of the Premiership scoring chart.
‘I spoke to my brother the other night,’ said Tavernier, referring to his younger r sibling and Middlesbrough winger Marcus. ‘ We both work in fives, so I’ll hopefully y now get to 20, then 25.
‘But it is something that t will always be a bonus. The e main objective is coming g away with three points, , secondly a clean sheet. We’re e devastated not to do that t today. I could have sorted my feet out better to prevent the cross.’
Rangers should have made life easier for themselves in the second period but chances came and went. Misfortune was mixed with misfiring.
Alfredo Morelos was guilty of the latter — extending his league drought to almost three months — but Dundee United may privately question why he was still on the pitch to have those opportunities in the first place.
Micky Mellon declined to be drawn afterwards on a first-half aerial challenge that saw the Colombian catch home centreback Mark Connolly with an arm thrown across the face.
The United manager’s anger was audible from the sidelines when it happened, however, and Morelos was lucky that referee Steven McLean produced only a yellow card.
Gerrard played down the incident but he would surely have winced had there been a dismissal on a day when he was quoted in the morning papers praising his team’s improved disciplinary record.
Back from a Covid-19 isolation period, Mellon saw his side graft relentlessly. For all that effort, though, a second equaliser didn’t look on the cards for a United team who stay sixth in the table.
Gerrard had shown the depth of his squad in last Thursday evening’s Europa League win over Lech Poznan. A 27th unbeaten match saw the return of the big guns on Tayside.
United set up in a 5-4-1 shape to try and keep them at bay — with striker Marc McNulty operating wide — and could have had an 1 11th- minute breakthrough when a corner caused chaos. Connolly and Mark Reynolds b both had efforts blocked before K Kemar Roofe sliced clear.
Rangers initially looked a little sluggish by their high standards. Morelos sought to stir them into life by sending a drive marginally wide.
The next contact made by the striker was more controversial. McLean, though, declined to reach for a red when Connolly and his colleagues hollered their protests.
United were fired up. Smith was of f t ar get with an ambitious attempt after Allan McGregor was forced to race to the edge of his area for a clearance. The wing- back would find accuracy in time, but only after Tavernier had taken the breath away with his i ncredible moment of precision. It was a sensational goal, maximising punishment for Connolly’s foul on Roofe.
Smith briefly levelled the match when he latched on to a deep cross from Jamie Robson. A delightful half-volley from an acute angle found the net via the inside of the far post for his first United goal.
A minute before the break, Adrian Sporle fouled Tavernier. The Ibrox skipper’s whipped, near-post free-kick was exemplary, providing all the pace Goldson
needed f or a clever glancing header. The central defender now has six goals this term.
That’s just one below Morelos. The striker was presented with a second-half chance thanks to a superb delivery from Roofe. He couldn’t quite get a shot away and ended up blocking Tavernier’s path when his colleague closed in.
A swing-and-miss at a Ryan Kent cross was followed by Gerrard summoning Cedric Itten from the bench.
Goldson had earlier fired high from seven yards before Scott Arfield took over. The midfielder saw a shot headed off the line by Connolly — who had earlier survived a penalty call for a tangle with Goldson — then struck a post.
DUNDEE UNITED (5-4-1): Siegrist 6; L Smith 7, Connolly 6, Edwards 6, Reynolds 7, Robson 7; McNulty 6, Fuchs 6, Harkes 6, Sporle 6 (Watson 86); Shankland 6. Subs not used: Deniz, Powers, Appere, Neilson, Watson, Hutchinson, Duffy, K Smith, Malcolm. Booked: Fuchs.
RANGERS (4-3-2-1): McGregor 6; Tavernier 8, Goldson 8, Balogun 6, Barisic 7; Arfield 7, Davis 8, Kamara 7 (Zungu 81); Roofe 7, Kent 7 (Aribo 86); Morelos 5 (Itten 73). Subs not used: McLaughlin, Bassey, Helander, Patterson, Hagi, Defoe. Booked: Morelos.
Man of the match: James Tavernier. Referee: Steven McLean.