Record-breakers
Robson (64)
Champions Rangers suffered their first Premiership defeat in 40 games after a Jamie Robson strike earned Dundee United a stunning 1-0 win at Tannadice. He is congratulated by Nicky Clark and Adrian Sporle.
Steven Gerrard has plenty to ponder this morning.
The Rangers manager admitted his team will have to find a level of performance they haven’t shown so far this season if they’re to progress in the Champions League.
After watching the Champions’ 40-game unbeaten run in the Premiership being ended by a heroic display from Dundee United, Gerrard turned his attention to the home game with Malmo.
Rangers must overcome a 2-1 deficit from the first leg to reach the group stage play-off.
And it sounds like there will be a few salvos fired in the direction of some players.
He said: “When you face a setback it’s a chance to reset, give some people home truths and analyse.
“It’s a bigger job for me and my staff to pick them up and get them in the best place for Tuesday night.
“The reality is we have lost two games on the spin. We have to do a lot better. Right now is not the time to feel sorry for ourselves.”
Gerrard knows from experience that getting players up to top speed early in the campaign isn’t always an instant process.
You can implement all the latest techniques from the world of sports science, but there’s still no substitute for playing competitive games.
That becomes a problem when you have important European qualifiers this early in the season.
At the moment, some of Rangers players aren’t performing at anywhere near the levels they showed last term.
Nothing went right for Ryan Kent yesterday. He is capable of a lot more.
Borna Barisic was unusually subdued when it came to runs down the wing and new signing John Lundstram has yet to show that he can make a major impact.
Alfredo Morelos returned to the starting line-up after a period in quarantine but, although lasting 82 minutes, never looked like scoring.
The worrying things for Rangers will be if some players believe they just have to turn up to replicate last season’s success.
When it came to drive and determination, Dundee United won hands down.
They came flying out of the traps — as Gerrard had predicted they would.
The home side were backed by 5,000 noisy fans and they responded to that backing with an energy-packed performance.
It wasn’t always silky stuff, but that didn’t concern the supporters.
A frantic period early on was reminiscent of kids chasing a ball in a playground, all flying boots, sclaffed passes and bodies bouncing around.
The fans were lapping up the remarkable energy United put into their performance.
Rangers didn’t get a second on the ball without being harried and hassled by a man in tangerine.
You wondered if they would run out of steam but, aside from a short spell after the break, Tam Courts’ troops maintained a remarkable tempo.
Both sides had claims for penalty
kicks waved aside, corners were keenly contested and free-kicks sailed over the bar.
Then Jamie Robson, such a star in defence, found himself running through on Rangers goalie Jon Mclaughlin.
The ball deflected off Steven Davis into his path and the 23-year-old kept his cool to stroke it home.
Home fans celebrated wildly. They were delighted to be back in the stadium and this was the icing on the cake.
Rangers tried to mix things up a bit by introducing Scott Wright, Cedric Itten and Jermain Defoe.
They dominated the closing stages but never looked like coming up with the invention to create an opportunity.
James Tavernier had a chance near the end but sliced his effort wide — it was that sort of afternoon for Rangers.
United celebrated with their fans at the end, as the men in light blue trudged towards the dressing room.
They looked like a group who knew a withering blast was coming their way.