Ibrox men shine away from the spotlight
Rangers belatedly find their groove to delay Celtic’s coronation party
THEY did not go gently into the good night. For all this only felt like an outcome to delay the inevitable in terms of the destiny of the Premiership title, Rangers at least did what they could to make Celtic work for it.
For so many of those inside an understandably subdued Ibrox last night, this felt like the kind of victory you could set your watch by these days. Asked to deliver when it matters as it was at Parkhead on Saturday and this squad simply doesn’t have it in them. Tasked with winning a match when the heat is off, and they’ll duly deliver.
You must give Philippe Clement’s side credit where it’s due, though. When Antonio Portales clipped in Dundee’s second goal of the night five minutes before the break, those on the park clad in light blue must have wished the ground would open up and swallow them. Having been quiet to start with, Ibrox became a very angry place.
Having been given a foothold by Ross McCausland just before the break, though, a much-improved Rangers performance dug out the win that put Celtic’s champagne on ice. Cyriel Dessers (right) levelled matters with a header before a spectacular if highly fortunate strike from Todd Cantwell put Clement’s men in front for the first time.
It was one-way traffic from that point on. Substitute Scott Wright made quite the introduction from the bench with an excellent late double to ensure Rangers won easily in the end.
The score was a little harsh on Dundee, but they seemed to freeze the moment Portales added to Jordan McGhee’s opener.
The defeat extinguished hopes among the Dark Blues faithful of a return to Europe after 21 years. It will now be St Mirren’s supporters digging out the passports.
Clement’s issues here were two-fold. As well as the obvious difficulty in raising the spirits so soon after Saturday’s defining loss at Parkhead, he was deprived of no less than 11 players either through injury or suspension.
That resulted in five new faces being drafted in. Leon King, who partnered Ben Davies in defence, was making his first start of the season. The other fresh legs belonged to Ridvan Yilmaz, Cantwell, Nicolas Raskin and McCausland.
Although facing a win-or-bust scenario, Dundee manager Tony Docherty deployed Amadou Bakayoko as a lone striker ahead of a five-man midfield.
The flat mood within the stadium certainly didn’t help Clement’s players. For all that, they started reasonably well.
Yilmaz saw a fine shot on the spin from 20 yards saved. Smart hold-up play by Dessers then brought Fabio Silva into the game. The Portuguese took a steady touch then grazed the top of the bar with his strike.
Luke McCowan’s woeful pass then let in McCausland. Keeper Jon McCracken came to his teammate’s rescue. But Dundee were not without their moments of promise. Jack Butland gave the visitors encouragement by almost kicking Davies’ backpass into his own net.
The Rangers keeper would soon be a busy man with Scott Tiffoney twice smashing the ball into his sodden gloves from the edge of the area. When Bakayoko’s drive was repelled by the Englishman, Dundee seemed to grow in belief. Coming seven minutes from the break, the opener was no surprise. Owen Dodgson’s delivery to the back post eliminated the entire Rangers defence. McGhee hammered the ball into the turf with his right foot and home.
Three minutes later, another Dodgson delivery resulted in Dundee’s second. Having controlled a short freekick, he fired the ball in low. Portales’ majestic flick from eight yards did for Butland.
With that, some Rangers fans made for the exits. Those that remained made their extreme displeasure abundantly clear.
McCausland did reduce the deficit to one before the break. Taking advantage of slack Dundee defending, the winger slid in to stab the ball home from seven yards.
Seemingly down and out as the half-time whistle approached, Rangers recovered to draw level seven minutes after the restart.
Cantwell had been ineffective until he popped up on the left and delivered a teasing cross. From six yards, Dessers applied a fine headed finish to claim his 22nd of the season for his club.
Only an excellent low stop by McCracken soon after prevented Cantwell turning the game on its head with Yilmaz then worrying the Dee keeper with a speculative shot that flew just over.
Cantwell would soon have his moment, though. And what a moment it was. Having gathered the ball in an advanced position on the right, he certainly shaped to cross. From a seemingly impossible angle, the ball simply flew up and over McCracken and nestled in the far corner.
Did the midfielder mean it? You would have to say probably not. Yet it was a truly spectacular goal all the same.
A couple of outstanding saves by McCracken prevented Silva then Dessers settling the issue.
After such a poor start, Rangers never looked like letting their slender lead slip. Clement was able to afford Kemar Roofe the final eight minutes in what was likely to be his final appearance at Ibrox.
It would be another sub who’d wrap up the scoring with three minutes remaining, though.
Wright did well to keep his eye on a deep cross and keep his shot on target. Despite the best efforts of the Dundee defence, the ball clearly crossed the line.
Wright helped himself to a second in time added on with a fizzing strike into the far corner after fine work by McCausland.
While the win won’t make much difference to the wider picture, those home fans who did stay the distance to applaud the team off after the final home league game at least saw their side show some character to eventually prevail.
Perhaps better times do lie ahead.
RANGERS (4-3-3): Butland 6; Tavernier 6.5, King 6.5 (McKinnon 75), Davies 6.5, Yilmaz 6 (Fraser 61); Raskin 6.5, Diomande 6.5 (Dowell 82), Cantwell 6.5; McCAUSLAND 7, Dessers 7 (Wright 82), Silva 6.5 (Roofe 82). Booked: None. Manager: Philippe Clement 7.
DUNDEE (4-2-3-1): McCracken 6; McGhee 6, Portales 6, Astley 6, Dodgson 6; Boateng 6 (Mellon 86), Cameron 6; McCowan 6, Tiffoney 6 (Robertson 74), Sylla 6 (Costelloe 74); Bakayoko 7 (Main 74). Booked: None. Manager: Tony Docherty 5. Referee: Matthew MacDermid 7. Attendance: 45,760.