Jim Goodwin has lamented Dundee United’s “bad as possible” preparations for their trip to Ibrox as he hailed his gutsy stars for claiming a 1-1 draw against Rangers.
The United team spent four-and-a-half hours on the team bus after being caught in the travel chaos caused by Storm Bert. A quickfire lunch at a city hotel followed, before zipping across to Govan.
The Tangerines arrived at Ibrox around 2.40pm and emerged for their warm-up at 3.25pm – just 20 minutes before the already altered kick-off time. They went back down the tunnel 90 seconds before they were due back on to begin the match.
The ball finally started rolling at 3.55pm.
Goodwin admits that his players had a ready-made excuse to succumb to defeat in Glasgow. Instead, they roared into the lead through Sam Dalby’s first-half header.
Although Vaclav Cerny levelled, the Terrors held firm for a precious point.
“The lads were sitting on a bus from 9.30 am to 2 o’clock when they got to Glasgow,” said Goodwin. “The weather didn’t help but there were a couple of really major incidents on the road which delayed everything.
“It was probably as bad as you could prepare for a game as possible.
“It just goes to show the character and resilience this group has. They aren’t going out there thinking they’ve got a good excuse if things don’t go their way.”
Goodwin added: “I told them that you find out a lot about yourself in moments of adversity, individually and collectively. Could we go out there and dig deep? We did that, to a man.”
Selection shock
And Goodwin sprung a major shock with the side he selected to face the Gers, with Kai Fotheringham coming into the side for his maiden Premiership start of the season.
Glenn Middleton also got the nod, with Emmanuel Adegboyega and Jort van der Sande dropping out.
Evidently influenced by the success his team had playing 4-3-3 against Rangers in the second half of their 1-0 defeat at Tannadice, the Terrors switched to a back-four.
If Rangers were seeking to take advantage of their visitors’ imperfect build-up with an early onslaught, it wasn’t reflected in their display.
Sighters from the edge of box by Cerny and Nico Raskin were both routinely fielded by Jack Walton. United’s captain-for-the-day David Babunski also skewed an effort off target.
Walton was more sternly tested as the half-hour mark approached, with Nedim Bajrami cutting inside from the left flank and curling a sumptuous effort toward the far corner. The United stopper’s fingertip save was outstanding.
A superb opener
Goodwin spoke ahead of this contest about the need to be brave and ambitious on the ball when counter-attack opportunities presented themselves. As the clock hit 37, his charges did exactly that.
Declan Gallagher’s raking pass to Middleton was superb. The former Ibrox winger found Will Ferry, who slipped the ball to an unmarked Vicko Sevelj. His in-swinging delivery was perfect for Dalby to head home.
“I think our goal was up there with one of the best we’ve scored all season; the switch of play to Middleton, then back to midfield for a terrific delivery by Sevelj for Dalby,” continued Goodwin.
“It was a really well worked goal.”
Conversely, the Light Blues saw a Robin Propper leveller chalked off for a fairly blatant handball in the build-up.
Facing the onslaught
United wasted a fine chance to extend their lead after the break, with an unmarked Babunki directing a Ryan Strain cross wide of the post.
Clement’s side produced their best passage of play when Cerny exchanged quickfire passes with Connor Barron before finding Danilo with a pinpoint cut-back. But the Brazilian’s finish from eight yards was sliced woefully wide.
Cerny, the Gers’ undoubted dangerman, then flashed a ferocious drive inches past the post.
The hosts were piling on the pressure.
And Cerny – the Gers’ best performer by a mile – would not be denied. He played a superb one-two with Danilo and showed fine composure to slide the ball past Walton. It had been coming; United were getting too deep, too early.
“We had five or six players cramping up going into the final stages of the game,” continued Goodwin.
“That was solely down to how poor the preparations were for the game. So, credit to them all. It’s not the first time we’ve had to show character, and that can stand you in good stead over the course of the season.”
Wonderful Walton
Walton was forced into another save when Danilo was again played through on goal.
With injury time fast approaching, Ianis Hagi unleashed a hopeful effort that was parried by Walton. Gallagher produced a heroic block, thwarting a seemingly inevitable Danilo tap-in from the rebound. The United keeper then clawed the loose ball to safety.
Walton stopped another goal-bound effort by Cerny in a magnificent finale from the big Englishman.
“Jack was outstanding in the dying moments of the game with two or three really big saves,” added Goodwin.
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