Dundee United became the first team to take Premiership points off Rangers at Ibrox this season as Sam Dalby’s clinical header secured a 1-1 draw.
The Tangerines belied their disrupted preparations to produce an stoic showing in Govan and, while Vaclav Cerny cancelled out Dalby’s opener after the break, the visitors held firm.
The draw sees United remain just three points behind the Gers, while moving one point ahead of fifth-placed Motherwell.
Courier Sport was in Glasgow to analyse the action.
Belying travel chaos with gutsy showing
United’s preparations were “as bad as possible”, in the words of Jim Goodwin.
With Storm Bert creating challenging conditions on the roads and – more pertinently – a couple of accidents causing major delays on the route, the squad were on the United team bus for around four-and-a-half hours, from 9.30 a.m.
Some at Rangers were irked by the delay, feeling the weather conditions should not have been a shock (ironic given their failure to navigate the 13 miles from St Andrews to Dens Park on time last season owing, similarly, to an accident).
Nevertheless, there was only one team truly inconvenienced, and it was those in tangerine and white.
Arriving in Glasgow around 2 p.m., the team wolfed down their pre-match meal at a hotel just across the Clyde from Ibrox.
With kick-off delayed to 3.45 p.m., the team got to the stadium around 2.40 p.m. and undertook the quickest warm-up imaginable.
After hours upon hours of sedentary travel, it was little surprise to see United players cramping up in the final stages. Clement reckoned that was an attempt to “annoy” the hosts and kill momentum.
Only those who hit the deck will know.
Either way, the eight minutes of added on time was plenty.
Ultimately, this was another laudable show of guts and gumption from a United side in uniquely challenging circumstances.
8 of the best from Jack Walton
Jack Walton produced EIGHT saves at Ibrox on Saturday.
That is more than any other goalkeeper across the Premiership. By a distance. Only Hearts’ Craig Gordon (five) against Celtic came close. Dimitar Mitov of Aberdeen racked up five in Aberdeen’s defeat at St Mirren.
Among the pick of the bunch, his sprawling, clawing stop to deny a wonderful Nedim Bajrami curler in the first half was tremendous. As was his poker face when the officials inexplicably awarded a goal kick.
Speed and bravery were required to thwart Danilo in the second period as the Brazilian raced on to a Cerny through-ball.
His crowning moment came when he parried an Ianis Hagi shot, sparking a melee during which Gallagher made a stunning block to deny Danilo, and Walton – on the deck – somehow managed to claw a Hamza Igamane effort clear.
The sort of save that will bring a smile to the face of goalkeeping coach Paul Mathers; those innumerable save-then-recover drills coming good on the big stage.
There was still time for Walton to paw away an Igamane drive from distance deep into injury time.
A tour de force from the on-loan Luton Town man.
United’s rock-solid pairing: Gallagher and Holt
United deployed a back-four from the start in a Premiership match for the first time this campaign.
A curveball. As was Goodwin’s selection of Kai Fotheringham on the flank (his efforts to quell the marauding threat of Jefte were laudable).
The 4-4-1-1 shape saw Declan Gallagher and Kevin Holt fielded as a centre-back pairing, with Emmanuel Adegboyega dropping to the bench.
Experienced, physical, composed but – as they would be the first to admit – not blessed with a great deal of pace. But it was a tactical triumph for the United boss.
Goodwin rightly surmised that Clement’s Rangers rarely seek to simply “turn” opposition defenders with a ball over the top. As such, that lack of speed was never an issue.
Meanwhile, the pair cleared everything thrown into the box from wide areas.
They racked up a combined 17 clearances, while no player won more aerial duels than Gallagher (who also made the joint-most accurate passes in the United side, level with Vicko Sevelj on 18).
The anatomy of Dundee United’s ‘best goal of the season’ contender
While much of this debrief is centred on United’s character and stoicism, it would be remiss not to spotlight an outstanding opener.
Gallagher, aside from a peerless showing in his own box, started the attack with a raking cross-field pass to Will Ferry, who killed the ball immediately. Glenn Middleton, a willing runner all day, dragged Cerny out of position with a fine decoy run.
It is from that vacated space that Sevelj had all the time in the world to shape an inch-perfect delivery into the box.
Fotheringham’s smart run from outside-to-in should not be overlooked, pulling Robin Propper far too close to his centre-back partner, John Souttar. And in the gap created between the Dutchman and Jefte, Dalby ghosted in to head past Jack Butland.
A defensive horror-show from a Gers perspective. Naivety and a lack of awareness all over the shop.
But a superbly worked goal on the break by the Tangerines, which Goodwin described as: “Up there with one of the best we’ve scored all season.”
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