Rangers 2 (Capucho 16, Lovenkrands 19) Dundee United 1
(Dodds 55)
Attendance 49,307
|
Manager Alex McLeish made four changes from Wednesday
with Stefan Klos, Henning Berg, Michael Ball and Nuno
Capucho replacing Allan McGregor, Bob Malcolm, Paulo
Vanoli and Egil Ostenstad.
Chris Burke, ‘Man of the Match’ on Wednesday, made his
third start as a Ranger with Capucho playing through
the middle against a United side that contained three
ex-Rangers in Captain Derek McInnes, Barry Robson and
Billy Dodds.
Burke it was who almost made a sensational start with
a thirty-yard run and shot that flashed across the
face of goal inside three minutes
The youngster turned creator eight minutes later,
releasing Capucho whose shot was beaten out by
goalkeeper Paul Gallacher.
The UEFA CUP winner would not be denied however,
opening the scoring in sixteen minutes when he took
possession of a Fernando Ricksen pass, shrugged off
the challenge of Chris Innes and slotted the ball
home.
Three minutes later it was 2-0 when Peter Lovenkrands
stabbed a Burke cross home after the winger had moved
on to a Michael Mols pass.
Rangers were coasting. Mols had the ball in the net in
24 minutes only to be denied by a lineman’s flag, then
on the half-hour the Dutchman played a one-two with
Lovenkrands only to finish with a weak shot that was
held by Gallacher.
A gilt-edged opportunity to make it 3-0 and put the
game well beyond United was squandered in 39 minutes
when Emerson saw his penalty turned wide by Gallacher
after Lovenkrands had been upended by Mark Kerr. It
was certainly a good save, but a chance missed
nevertheless.
The half ended with Rangers two up, but the feeling
amongst the 49,307 spectators was that the margin
should have been at least doubled.
United had a strong penalty claim waved aside in the
opening exchanges of the second-half when Dodds
tumbled under a Khizanishvili challenge. Referee John
Underhill’s decision so incensed the former Ranger
that he was subsequently yellow-carded for a late
tackle on Ricksen, then was fortunate to escape
further punishment for two successive fouls on the
same player inside as many minutes, a ridiculous
situation for such an experienced player to find
himself in.
Rangers were all out to increase their lead in the
opening stages of the second-half. Lovenkrands saw his
volley from a Capucho knockdown held by Gallacher in
49 minutes, then Mols drove across goal sixty seconds
later from another Capucho opening, before Lovenkrands
again saw his header from a Burke cross inches wide.
Unbelievably the Tannadice men reduced the deficit in
55 minutes when an inswinging corner from Barry Robson
was missed entirely by Klos only to be headed off the
line by Stephen Hughes. Jim McIntyre headed it back
into the danger area for Chris Innes to nod down to
Dodds who turned the ball over the line from
point-blank range.
Rangers – so superior for so long – were now absurdly
struggling to hang on to their lead, yet might have
had a second penalty on the hour when Kerr chopped
down Burke, only for the referee to give a free-kick
on the edge of the box.
The game should certainly have been made safe in 71
minutes when a Ricksen cross found Capucho in acres of
space only for the Portuguese Internationalist to try
to be too clever, chipping his effort well over.
Billy Dodds was booed for his earlier behaviour as he
departed two minutes later, being replaced by Colin
Samuel, and shortly afterwards the ineffective Emerson
was replaced by Bob Malcolm.
There was a League debut for youngster Darryl Duffy
when he substituted for Mols in 82 minutes, but it was
a United sub, former Ranger Charlie Miller, who almost
stole a point in 87 minutes with a 25-yard shot that
flashed just over.
Rangers nevertheless hung on for a narrow 2-1 win.
RANGERS Klos; Ricksen, Berg, Khizanishvili, Ball;
Burke (Vanoli 86), Emerson (Malcolm 75), Hughes,
Lovenkrands; Mols (Duffy 82), Capucho
UNUSED SUBS McGregor, Ross
DUNDEE UNITED Gallacher; Wilson (Easton 45), Innes,
McCracken, Archibald; McLaren, Kerr (Miller 67),
McInnes, Robson; McIntyre, Dodds (Samuel 73)
UNUSED SUBS Jarvie, Paterson
REFEREE John Underhill