RANGERS FAIL TO BREAK 4 YEAR FIRST GAME HOODOO AT TANNADICE

MATCH REPORT:

DUNDEE UNITED 1 RANGERS 1 SPL FRIDAY 31^st JULY KO 8pm.

HALF TIME 0-1

SCORERS: DUNDEE UNITED L.ROSE 38MIN-RANGERS AASGAARD 56MIN.

Rangers failed to break the hoodoo of winning their first SPL game now extending that unwanted record to four years, conversely Dundee United extended their unbeaten run at Tannadice to eight games extending from last season.

Derek McInnes overseeing his first competitive games as Rangers manager took his team to play a much-changed opposition from last season, Dundee United having played four Premier Sports Cup games in the lead up, winning three of the four group games, and advancing to the last 16. The Tangerines have also brought in 10 new signings for the forthcoming season to completely overhaul the squad.

Although McInnes was severely shackled by limited personnel in key areas, there was an element of surprise that Ryan Naderi was selected in the side in effect alone up top, as the strategy was jettisoned as ineffectual at half time in the previous weekend’s pre-season match at Ibrox versus West Ham United. The inclusion of Mohammed Diomande in midfield (who went on to play the whole 90 minutes) was also somewhat of jolt to supporters before kick-off.

Rangers started with a real intent putting the home side under pressure and a smart back heel from newly appointed captain Lawrence Shankland forced an alert save from Englishman Jack Walton. That was the real highlight of any attacking threat from Rangers until the 28^th minute when Naderi was the beneficiary of a Dujon Sterling cross heading downwards again forcing a save by the diving Walton.

In between these events a rare Dundee United attack forced centre back Emmanuel Fernandez to make a smart last ditch sliding tackle in the penalty area to prevent the hosts from opening the scoring.

Then the sucker punch occurred of which we witnessed so much last season, on Dundee United's seventh attack the Rangers defensive players were asleep at the wheel, in particular Fernandez and Thelo Aasgaard. A cross on the byline was shrewdly dummied by Australian Zac Sapsford and fellow countryman Lachlan Rose unorthodoxly manipulated the ball into Ranger’s net giving the hosts a 38^th minute lead.

Rangers had outshot the visitors 11 shots to 7 during the first half, but with only 3 on target the threat was not enough to unduly trouble the hosts. The main problem for Rangers was the poor passing accuracy of 66.5%, in crude terms one out of three passes were ineffectual and any promising attacking threats broke down.

The half time interval saw two substitutions in Dan Neil for Djeidi Gassama and Youssef Chermiti for Ryan Naderi. Dan Neil made an instant impact, although not in the way he may have wanted, by picking up a yellow card for a robust challenge.

The same aforementioned player made a pinpoint cross shortly afterwards that the advancing Fernandez should have hit the target, but it was an indication of better attacking intent from the away side.

Three successive corners were forced by Rangers, and shortly afterwards the Dundee United defensive damn cracked in the 56^th minute. Lawrence Shankland showed good upper body strength directing the ball to Aasgaard who expertly initially controlled the ball under the attention of two defenders, then rifled an unstoppable shot to equalise after a sustained pressure was rewarded.

The hosts were now beginning to go from bread to crumbs with the home crowd also being silenced, an ideal opportunity for Rangers to assert further pressure and go into the lead? No-another trait from last season reared its ugly head again, a defensive brain short circuit less than 90 seconds after Aaasgaard’s goal resulted in a Dundee United corner therefore lifting the crowd and the hosts confidence and energy levels.

Alarmingly following Aasgaard’s 56^th minute goal it wasn’t until the 70^th minute that Rangers threatened The Tangerines goal with a shot, therefore relinquishing all the pressure asserted within the first 11 minutes of the half following the two substitutions.

In the 63^rd minute Ben Godfrey left the field with a potentially worrying hamstring injury to be replaced by Ross McCrorie. McCrorie went to right back and Dujon Sterling gravitated into centre back alongside Fernandez.

In the 79^th minute Aasgaard attempted to replicate Chermiti’s outrageous bicycle kick in the two all SPL draw against Celtic at Ibrox last March albeit to no avail, it did however illustrate that the Norwegian (who returned to pre-season training earlier than the allowed World Cup rest period) has the confidence to showcase his skills unlike too many occasions last season. This confidence coupled with an increase and urgency in ‘off the ball play’ could see him play a very significant part in McInnes’s plans this season.

The last 10 minutes saw opportunities for all three points to be secured by the respective teams, firstly in the 83^rd minute Dundee United’s Jesse Randall found himself with a one on one with Ivor Pandur after the New Zealander expertly controlled the ball, Randall then tried to delicately chip the ball over the 6ft 2” Croatian but inexplicably misfired allowing Pandur to beat down a tame effort with his right glove.

Five minutes later it was Ranger’s opportunity, Youssef Chermiti showed some great approach work on the left-hand side dragging the approaching defenders with him, however rather than squaring the ball to the partially marked nearer player Shankland, or the completely unmarked Findlay Curtis further out wide to the right of the penalty box, he chose to shoot without success. This event showed that some of the decision making by the attacking players is showing a blinkered approach at best, or rapacity at worst.

The game fizzled out as a 1 all draw, both a result and a performance that will frustrate the manager, players and fans.

SUBS SUMMARY:

Neil for Gassama 45mins/Chermiti for Naderi 45mins/McCrorie for Godfrey 63 mins/Curtis for Devlin 81mins.

So, what are the deductions of Rangers first team game?

-Despite having 21 shots (seven on target) as opposed to Dundee United’s 11 (three on target) there needs to be better clinical finishing and attacking decision making.

-Very little width on the flanks, there is a by-product to this besides producing crosses, it drags the opposition defenders around and therefore gives the midfield opportunities to thread through balls into spaces.

-Two wingers (right in particular) is a must for Dan Purdy’s recruitment team and quickly, the two Europa League qualifying games against stern Polish opposition Jagiellonia Bialystock, that bookend Rangers next SPL game at home to Hibernian, will be challenging and the losers of that tie are eliminated from Europa League football in season 2026-27.

-Cover is needed at both left back and centre back as the playing squad is very shallow in this area.

Marcus

HATW 1872