Attendance 47,063
Celtic’s 2-2 draw at Hibernian may have allowed
Rangers to narrow the deficit, but this victory will
have fooled no-one as to the prospects of success for
the Light Blues in the coming campaign.
Pre-match music included ‘The Dambusters’ in
recognition of the Battle of Britain commemorations
this weekend.
The game kicked off in horrendous weather conditions
with manager Alex McLeish making two changes from the
debacle in Madeira – Paulo Vanoli and Peter
Lovenkrands replacing Gregory Vignal and Shota
Arveladze against an Inverness side fielding former
Ranger Mark Brown in goal.
Early offside decisions that were to say the least
marginal were to prove a forerunner of a frustrating
afternoon as the home side were constantly caught out
by Caley’s offside trap, although several of the
decisions were in the highly dubious category. One in
particular – from a throw-in – demonstrated that
linesman Andrew Seymour clearly did not understand the
laws of the game.
Barry Wilson almost silenced the crowd in eleven
minutes with a 25-yard volley that stretched the side
netting.
Five minutes later however it was 1-0 to Rangers when
a Chris Burke corner to the back post found Craig
Moore who headed down for Dado Prso to stab the ball
home.
The Highlanders continued to threaten however – Juanjo
finding himself in acres of space from a Roy McBain
corner in nineteen minutes only to see his shot
blocked by Maurice Ross.
The first yellow card of the afternoon arrived on the
half-hour when Grant Munro upended Burke, and from the
resultant free-kick Vanoli saw his 22-yarder held by
Brown.
Rangers were far from dominant – indeed Ross bizarrely
headed a Ross Tokely cross against the underside of
his own crossbar two minutes later before hooking the
ball clear.
Yet another injury blow struck the Ibrox men in 36
minutes when Dragan Mladenovic was stretchered off
suffering from what appeared to be a knee injury
following an innocuous challenge, to be replaced by
Stephen Hughes.
Seconds later it was almost 2-0 when Jean Alain
Boumsong saw his header from a Burke corner strike the
crossbar.
Rangers finished the half on top – Nacho Novo coming
close with a header from a Prso cross in 42 minutes.
Zurab Khizanishvili made a welcome return to the team
at the interval, replacing Ross.
Prso’s header from a Fernando Ricksen free-kick was
held by Brown in 49 minutes as Rangers strove to
increase their lead, but it was the visitors who
should have levelled matters six minutes later when
Richard Hart was released by a Graham Bayne pass only
to shoot wide of the target.
A strong penalty claim was denied seconds later when
Burke went down under a challenge from Stuart Golabek,
then immediately afterwards Ricksen’s 25-yard drive
was touched over by Brown.
The miss of the match occurred in 58 minutes when
Lovenkrands, a great disappointment throughout,
somehow headed over from right underneath the crossbar
after Novo’s cross was flicked on by Boumsong.
The game deteriorated badly as the second-half wore
on, with Rangers hanging on by the skin of their teeth
as Caley made all the running without admittedly
creating any clear-cut chances.
The closing stages were nerve-wracking for the 47,063
spectators, although the game should have been sealed
in 89 minutes when substitute Arveladze found the net
only for the goal to be chalked off for offside
despite there clearly being two opposition players on
the goal-line.
Inverness were reduced to ten men in the dying seconds
when Munro received his second yellow card, and
subsequent red, for a foul on Prso.
The final whistle may have signalled a home win, but
the teams left the field to the sound of booing,
although the volume was increased for the benefit of
the match officials.
Caledonian Manager John Robertson tellingly
summarised:
“We deserved to take something from the game. Rangers
were there for the taking. We had them pinned back –
they were a very nervous side.”
Meanwhile Alex McLeish offered his thoughts:
“It was important to get the three points. We can play
better.”
Hell of a glad to hear that, Alex.
RANGERS Klos; Ross (Khizanishvili 45), Moore,
Boumsong, Vanoli; Burke, Ricksen, Mladenovic (Hughes
36), Lovenkrands; Prso, Novo (Arveladze 60)
UNUSED SUBS Vignal, G. Smith, McLean, McCormack
INVERNESS CALEDONIAN THISTLE Brown; Tokely, Munro,
McCaffrey, Golabek; Wilson, Hart, Keogh, McBain; Bayne
(Hislop 59), Juanjo (Prunty 76)
UNUSED SUBS Black, Fraser, Dods, Duncan, Proctor
REFEREE Calum Murray