Bt Alistair Aird
It was great to be back home, and it was even better to home for a Saturday 3pm kick-off. The television era has often robbed us of that tradition, but this was after all a day for misty-eyed nostalgia.
Rangers have been blessed with some truly magnificent goalkeepers since their birth in 1872. And our current number one is up there with the best of them. Although now at the ripe old age of 41, Allan McGregor continues to defy opposition forwards, his astonishing reflexes still in good working order allowing him to add to what is already an extensive list of stellar saves. This match was the 500th time he had played for Rangers in either the league, Scottish Cup, League Cup, or Europe – if you include friendlies and ‘other’ matches this was actually appearance number 549 – and he would have been hoping to mark the occasion with a 224th shut-out.
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McGregor was part of a Rangers starting XI that seemed to be set up to ‘wreak havoc’. Todd Cantwell, Ryan Kent, and Malik Tillman were selected as a trio that you expected would interchange position throughout the match. And although his future remains uncertain, Alfredo Morelos was given the nod at centre forward, while Borna Barisic took a break from nappy changing and bottle feeding to replace Ridvan Yilmaz at left back.
Dundee United, two points adrift at the bottom of the table, arrived looking for a first win since 21 January. That came against Stirling University in the Scottish Cup, and you had to go back to 2 January for their last Premiership success. With Michael Beale looking for better performances from his team at Ibrox, this looked like a prime opportunity for his players to produce a swashbuckling display with a swagger and a few goals to boot.
Normally clad top to toe in tangerine, McGregor, given the choice of either yellow or pink, opted for the former for his big day. After breaking away when the teams emerged, McGregor did a quick bit of handling practice with Colin Stewart, and he was ready. The home support hoped Rangers were too.
As expected, United set up to stifle, playing five at the back and four in midfield. Steven Fletcher was their loan striker, and he had a sight of McGregor’s goal inside the opening five minutes but skewed his effort wide of target.
After seven minutes, the home side got their first real sight of goal. Morelos’s deft touch released Tillman. He wriggled his way forward and passed wide to Barisic. His cross evaded Morelos and Tillman but fell for Tavernier at the back post. His fierce shot was beaten away by Mark Birighitti.
The expected fluidity and interchange in forward areas was evident even at this early stage. The intelligent play of Tillman and Kent earned Rangers a couple of corners, and from the second of them, Morelos got up well to head goalwards. His effort drifted wide of the post, and the Colombian was often isolated in the opening 20 minutes. He is still nowhere near the threat or presence he used to be, and the days of him rumbling up defenders seem a distant memory now.
In truth, after 25 minutes, the game was very flat. But all of a sudden, it briefly burst to life. Morelos fired a ball in to Tillman and when it broke to Cantwell, he released a shot that was parried by Birighitti. Tillman tried to snaffle the rebound and looked to have been fouled as he attempted to reach the loose ball. Referee Don Robertson’s decision was ‘no penalty’, though.
After a break in play that saw Barisic return to action looking like Rab C Nesbitt – minus the string vest naturally – Rangers continued to poke and probe the United rearguard. But despite having 79% possession and executing 240 passes, shooting opportunities were at a premium. Of the seven registered by the homes side in the opening half hour, only two were on target.
Man of the moment Allan McGregor was a spectator, spending much of that opening half hour standing 25 to 30 yards from his own goal. He had only touched the ball six times, athough he was almost beaten by a speculative effort from Craig Sibbald.
That served to increase the levels of anxiety and frustration that were starting to build in the stadium, but after 38 minutes, the home side alleviated that when they hit the front. Goldson slid a pass to Cantwell, and he caressed the ball into the path of Tillman who drilled a shot into the net. It was a simple goal and showed how incisive passing could unpick the tangerine lock.
The treatment of Barisic’s head injury accounted for most of the four minutes of stoppage time, and at the outset of that additional period, Kent rattled the bar. He had been largely ineffectual until that point, but now playing more centrally, he was having more of a positive impact.
A stodgy first half against a stoic defence ended with Rangers ahead. It had been another tough half to watch, with only the intelligent play of Tillman and Cantwell lighting up the dull display. Rangers were missing the progressive play of Nico Raskin, and it was hoped the second 45 would offer the frozen supporters a little more excitement and entertainment to warm them up.
Three minutes in, Tillman curled in a teasing cross from the right that Birighitti fisted clear with Morelos in close proximity. Tavernier, another who was having a quiet game, was booked shortly afterwards, and the same plodding pattern we had witnessed in the opening half was still evident.
Steven Fletcher’s shot from distance drew the first save of the day from McGregor – it will likely rank alongside the most comfortable he’s made for Rangers – and the veteran then started a move that would culminate in a second goal for Rangers. Tillman was the scorer again, burrowing his way into a shooting position and firing under the diving Birighitti. The build-up play involving Tavernier and Kent that fashioned the opportunity was impressive too.
The young American loanee had once again illustrated why Rangers should take advantage of the exclusive option to buy clause. Most of his 63 touches up to that point were positive ones and he had a passing accuracy of 88.6%. And just shy of the hour he almost had a hat-trick, his fierce shot from the edge of the box being parried away by Birighitti.
Kent then spooned the ball over the bar, but Rangers were now finding more pockets of space and their play was much more enterprising. Cantwell was at the hub of a lot of that, and he continues to look like an excellent addition to the player pool. In the opening 64 minutes, he made three key passes, but the industrious side of his game, something he isn’t given credit for, was to the fore too. He covered a lot of territory, dropping deep when required to pick up possession while always looking to make a positive impact.
Changes were afoot as the clock ticked on to 70 minutes. Scott Wright and Fashion Sakala were ready to come on, but before they were introduced, Rangers almost made it 3-0. Tillman showed great feet and terrific tenacity to reach the bye-line. He cut the ball back to Tavernier, but the skipper’s shot was beaten away by the busy Birrighitti. The United custodian was tested again moments later by an effort from Morelos.
The substitutions were then made, and eyebrows were raised when James Tavernier was one of the players withdrawn. Morelos also made way, and all eyes were now on how Rangers would set up for the last quarter of an hour. The answer was that Lundstram would drop in alongside Goldson and Davies to form a back three, with Wright deployed as a right wing-back. Sakala took up the centre forward position.
To be honest, not much happened after that and that summed up the match. There was a triple change after 85 minutes – Tillman, Jack, and Cantwell were withdrawn and replaced by Arfield, Souttar, and Colak – and the latter should have done better than skew a header wide of goal shortly after his introduction. There were then howls of frustration when Wright, in a promising position, fired the ball aimlessly across the box.
There was a ripple of excitement when VAR was consulted for a possible handball when Colak’s header was blocked, but after deliberating for what seemed like an eternity, Dom Robertson waved play on.
All that was left was for the sponsors to nostalgically award Allan McGregor ‘player’ of the match. Rangers have won 136 of the 174 league matches McGregor has played in at Ibrox, and he will seldom have had a quieter afternoon than this one. He had 33 touches, 91.3% passing accuracy and made only two saves, both of which fell into the ‘routine’ category.
Rangers did what they had to do – secure three points – but it was another tough one to watch. Admittedly, United offered little, but too often Rangers’ play lacked intensity. There will need to an improvement next weekend if there is to be a positive outcome when we visit the home of our Old Firm rivals.