RED-ACHE
10-MAN DEE HOLD ON STATS PACK
insult was added to injury for Dundee when Rangers scored from the set-piece two minutes after the initial award.
Halliday placed the ball, took half a dozen paces back and then stepped up to crack a fizzing effort in to the postage stamp.
Now it was Dundee who had serious questions to answer.
Down to 10 men and with Rangers’ tails up it promised to be a long afternoon for the home side.
Calvin Miller plugged the gap at left-back as Dundee shuffled the pack and oddly enough the next chance fell to striker Kenny Miller who got on the end of Cammy Kerr’s cross and tested McGregor.
But Rangers had more room to manoeuvre and the action areas were now around the Dundee box.
Eros Grezda charged down the right and his cross was almost deflected into his own net by Genseric Kusunga.
Rangers were harshly treated in the 32nd minute when assistant ref Chambers flagged Lafferty offside as he stabbed home a driven Kent cross.
Seven days after profiting with a goal from the lack of a linesman’s flag at Tynecastle, Gers were this time the ones punished by an assistant’s blunder.
Kusunga and Lafferty foolishly tangled on the halfway line and their head-to-head clash earned both men a caution as the half drew to a niggly close.
Gerrard didn’t waste time trying to gee up his players with Glenn Middleton introduced for the second-half to replace the injured Kent.
And while it was one-way traffic after the break, Gers were toiling badly to create chances against a well-drilled Dee side.
Rangers keeper McGregor’s histrionics told their own story. Clearly incensed at the lack of urgency and quality in the final third by Rangers, the Scotland No.1 spent large chunks of the second period at the edge of the centre-circle bawling at his mates to step it up.
Borna Barisic was pitched on for the anonymous Jordan Rossiter and Halliday was replaced by Ovie Ejaria as Rangers sought both drive and creativity.
Jack – perhaps lucky to escape a second yellow for a foul on McGowan at the start of the half – tested Hamilton with a low shot on 75 minutes.
But Dundee refused to cave in with Andrew Boyle and Kusunga heroic at the heart of the defence.
Rangers – running short of key players – will surely be just as concerned at how they ran out of ideas.