By Alistair Aird
December. As months of the season go, this one is so often pivotal. The festive fixtures in the past have more often than not shaped the season, and with trips to Tynecastle and Pittodrie to come before the bells, we will know much more about how Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s Rangers team is shaping up by the year end.
But although those fixtures are massive, it’s always best to take it one game at a time. Wins on those tricky trips would be rendered pointless if points were spilled when Dundee came to Ibrox. It was paramount therefore that eyes weren’t taken off the ball. And with Celtic due to travel to Tannadice the following day, a win in this one would have cranked up the pressure on them ahead of that one.
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Again, there was little in the way of change in Gio’s starting XI. This is becoming habitual. Nine players have started each of the three games thus far, and they were deployed again against Dundee. The only alterations for this one were Scott Arfield, who was rewarded for some fine performances of late, and Fashion Sakala, who was given his first start under van Bronckhorst. Steven Davis and Ryan Kent made way, with both being given a well-earned rest. For Dundee, there was one change to the team that won against St Johnstone, Christie Elliot replacing Max Anderson.
With fluidity and flexibility hallmarks of van Bronckhorst’s time in charge thus far, everyone was keen to see how Rangers would set up for this one. And there was another change. Joe Aribo, who had excelled as the ‘10’, was alongside Kamara in a holding role. Arfield was, initially at least, the furthest advanced, playing just behind Alfredo Morelos when the match kicked off.
Rangers attacked the Broomloan Road end and got off to a positive start. They were on the front foot from the off and pressing high up the park. And that’s how they played from the first minute until the last.
After only a minute, Morelos and Sakala combined to force a corner, and the latter certainly made the most of the opportunity the manager gave him. He was a constant threat to the Dundee defence and should have been rewarded with a goal. Only some wayward finishing and top-drawer goalkeeping by Adam Legzdnis denied the man who comes from Zambia.
Sakala’s first sight of goal came after 10 minutes. Charlie Adam’s header was picked up by Aribo and the ball found its way to Sakala via Morelos. He twisted away from his man and had a clear sight of goal, but he slashed wildly wide of target with his left foot. And four minutes later, he made room again for a shot which was deflected over the bar for a corner. The corner was worked short by Hagi to Barisic, and his cross found Morelos. However, not for the first time over the 90 minutes, El Buffalo didn’t find the net, his header being pawed away by Legzdins.
The hunger and desire of the Rangers players with and without the ball was unnerving the visitors, and slackness in their defence was almost punished by the lively Sakala. Adam played the ball back towards his own goal, but Morelos picked Jordan Marshall’s pocket. He fed Sakala, who was now popping up on the right, but the Zambian tugged his right foot shot across goal and wide.
Rangers were battering the deep Dark Blue line, and it took a first-class save from Legzdins after 24 minutes to stop it being breached and keep the scoresheet blank. Unsurprisingly, the chance fell to Sakala and his fierce left foot shot would have found the far corner were it not for the fingertips of the English goalkeeper. It would be the first of many the 35-year-old would make and it was down to him alone that the scoreline had a respectable look at full-time.
Legzdnis’s next save was more comfortable, flopping down to hold the ball after Barisic struck goalwards from 35 yards, but his next was once again top class. Lovely play involving Arfield, Hagi and Morelos ended when the ball was intercepted and cleared for a corner. And when the ball was swung in, Goldson’s header brought out another stunning stop from Legzdins.
There was a real urgency about Rangers in the opening half hour. You had the feeling that if they got one goal then the Dundee dam would burst, and the floodgates would open. And that goal came in the 35th minute, although there was a degree of fortune about it.
Joe Aribo danced along the 18-yard line and his left foot shot was straight at the goalkeeper but was deflected into the net by Liam Fontaine. Aribo deserved the goal, though. He was a stalwart under Gerrard, but under van Bronckhorst he has emerged as a hybrid midfield player. As Gio said post-match, Aribo can play as a ‘6’ or a ‘10’ and he wants his midfielders to be of that ilk. Although there were many candidates, Aribo earned the sponsor’s man-of-the-match award.
Sakala then made an unwanted ‘fashion’ statement. Tavernier hung up a cross towards him, but the Zambian was penalised after a clash of heads with Cammy Kerr. After a spell of treatment, he ended up with his head swathed in bandages. All that he needed to complete the Rab C. Nesbitt look was the string vest.
The last few minutes of the first half were all about the infuriating side of Alfredo Morelos. He had been in and out the game, linking the play well on occasion then giving the ball away cheaply on others. But after 42 minutes, he passed up a gilt-edged chance to put the game to bed. After some lovely passing, Hagi played a through ball for Morelos, but his shot was blocked by Legzdins. He should have scored – with a bit of composure, he could have taken the ball round the goalkeeper – and he passed up another good opportunity in stoppage time. Initially he did well to spin and send the ball wide to Sakala, but when he was teed up for a shot at goal his sidefoot shot was tame and straight at the goalkeeper.
The chat among the supporters in the stands, concourses and suites at half-time should have been positive. Rangers had been superb in and out of possession, but 1-0 is a fragile lead, so a second goal early after the interval would have been welcome. And it arrived 10 minutes after the restart.
It should perhaps have come before then, but Legzdins thwarted Rangers not once, not twice but FOUR times in that period. Firstly, he diverted a shot from Arfield onto the post before turning a long range shot from Bassey wide for a corner. He then parried a shot from Morelos at his near post but topped the lot with a super save from a fizzing shot from Sakala. But he was powerless when Aribo flashed a superb cross into the danger area, the ball being turned into his own net by Ryan Sweeney.
Prior to that goal, Leigh Griffiths had come on for Charlie Adam. It’s pantomime season, and synonymous with these shows is the panto villain, and with no love lost between our support and Griffiths, his arrival was greeted by boos and catcalls. And he very quickly raised the ire of the home fans when he took out Joe Aribo in the middle of the park. A ruckus followed with Morelos getting involved, but referee Alan Muir diffused the situation by handing out a yellow card to each player.
But Griffiths didn’t seem to heed the warning and he should have been dismissed after 64 minutes. He took out Calvin Bassey with a late challenge that should have earned him a second booking. Remarkably, the referee kept his cards in his pocket, but even though he stayed on there was no need for anyone to holler to the Rangers defence that Griffiths was ‘behind you’. Although the troubled striker hit the post late on, he was abject. His slide into football oblivion continues.
A minute later, van Bronckhorst made his first change, sending on Scott Wright for Ianis Hagi. And Wright almost made an immediate impact, sprinting down the right but he overran the ball and it went out of play.
The third goal eventually arrived with 20 minutes to go. There has been plenty written about the pros and cons of Alfredo Morelos and this game was a microcosm of his time of late. There were times when he did the hard part only to carelessly give the ball away. His finishing was slipshod too. But when Scott Arfield fed the ball to him, we saw the Colombian at his best, bulldozing his way through the defence before stroking the ball home.
That ended any notion of a comeback from Dundee. There was little in the way of action after that – Morelos had a header cleared off the line – and the game petered out. But what stood out in those closing stages was the hunger and desire of the Rangers players. Even at 3-0 up, they hassled and harried, it was relentless.
And that showed what Rangers under Giovanni van Bronckhorst have become. On Wednesday at Easter Road, we were resolute. But against Dundee, there was a ruthlessness, and we arguably produced our best performance of the season. And we ‘kept the zero’ at home for the first time since 29 August.
We roll on. The games are coming thick and fast and after a ‘dead rubber’ against Lyon on Thursday, we have a huge match in Edinburgh against Hearts. The initial signs under van Bronckhorst are good – we are more compact and flexible, and offer a real threat going forward – and if we can emerge from the festive fixtures still out in front then it bodes well for the next phase.
The chase is on.
Attendance: 49,628