On a day when Hearts and Celtic were knocking lumps out of each other at Tynecastle, picking up three points against Dundee was simply a non-negotiable for Rangers.
The performance? Not even remotely important.
For long spells, this was woeful stuff. Nevertheless, another win – an eighth on the trot in all competitions – was successfully delivered, and that, coupled with the result in Edinburgh, ensured it turned out to be a perfect afternoon.
Second-half goals from captain James Tavernier – his 100th in the league for the club – were followed by late strikes from Danilo and Djeidi Gassama to wrap up the victory. It was harder work than the final scoreline suggests.
Four points now separate themselves and the leaders Hearts at the top of the table. Celtic are two behind in third place.
The fact they are even in a title race is testament to the work done by the manager behind the scenes over the past few months. He has surpassed all expectations thus far.
Skipper James Tavernier celebrates after breaking the deadlock from the penalty spot at Ibrox
Djeidi Gassama curls in a stoppage-time goal to round off Rangers’ 3-0 win against Dundee
Rangers boss Danny Rohl salutes the fans after a win that edges them closer to leaders Hearts
Working with the same crop of players who were all over the shop under Russell Martin, he has performed a minor miracle to get them into this position.
Whisper it quietly, but Rangers may well be title favourites. It certainly strengthens their hand when it comes to convincing any transfer targets to hop on board over the coming week or so.
Two new recruits already in the building were involved here.
There’s been plenty of excitement surrounding the signing of Andreas Skov Olsen from Wolfsburg, and he came in for his debut.
The Dane – who has been capped 40 times for his country – has arrived in Glasgow with a big reputation, but he’ll soon see how little that matters in these parts.
He was fine here, and was involved in the build-up to the penalty which led to the opening goal, but he didn’t set the heather alight. More to come from him, no doubt.
Tochi Chukwuani also made his first start having made a fleeting appearance off the bench in last week’s Scottish Cup victory over Annan.
The former Sturm Graz man was tidy enough in possession, and offered a presence in the final third. Were it not for a tight offside call early on, he would have opened his account for his new club.
Both he and Skov Olsen will only get better playing in a team playing with this much confidence.
That being said, Rohl has no chance of completing his Rangers revolution unless he can add some more quality up top.
Youssef Chermiti – one outstanding Old Firm derby performance aside – has shown next to nothing, while Bojan Miovski has looked a shadow of the player who once ran top-flight Scottish defences ragged at Aberdeen.
Once again, he looked lost out there. The service up to him wasn’t much cop either, but he has to do much more.
By the sounds of things, many of the punters have already made their mind up. On the evidence available, it’s hard to argue with them.
After an underwhelming start, Rangers finally woke up on the 12-minute mark. Skov Olsen played a quick one-two with Tavernier on the right-hand side before picking out Chukwuani at the back post, who got in front of his marker to head into the net.
The celebrations were cut short by the sight of the linesman’s offside flag.
The frustration could have been compounded had Luke Graham got a better connection on his snapshot at the other end after a long throw fell at the defender’s feet.
Dundee arguably carried more of a threat on the counter in the first half hour. Cam Congreve had the beating of Jayden Meghoma on a number of occasions. However, the final ball wasn’t quite up to scratch.
Rangers simply couldn’t build any sort of momentum. Nico Raskin – much improved under Rohl in recent months – was guilty of taking the easy option far too often.
He wasn’t the only one though. It was just so slow, so lethargic from back to front.
Thelo Aaasgaard at least tried to make something happen. There’s no doubt the Norwegian has quality, but he can be a passenger at times too. Not here, at least.
His driving run from the halfway line ended with a powerful drive from 20 yards which forced Jon McCracken to get his gloves dirty for the first time.
Aaasgard was at the heart of Rangers’ best opportunity of the first period a couple of minutes later, finding a pocket of space outside the Dundee box before threading it through to Chukwuani.
His low strike was far too close to McCracken, who kept it out with his right boot.
Emmanuel Fernandez then went close with an acrobatic overhead kick which bounced inches wide on the stroke of half-time.
The hosts couldn’t have been much worse after the break, and indeed they had sliced through Dundee within a minute of the restart.
Skov Olsen found Aasgard on the right-hand side of the box, and his cross was fired high and wide by Raskin, who was cleaned out by Ryan Astley in the process.
Referee Kevin Clancy immediately pointed to the spot. Tavernier did what he always does from 12 yards.
It wasn’t too long before Rangers reverted to type. Dundee deserve some credit for that, by the way.
Steven Pressley’s side – who were unlucky not to get a win here in August – barely put a foot wrong defensively all day. Having won four of their last five in all competitions, they would have fancied themselves to throw a spanner in the works of this fascinating title race.
A lack of guile in the final third was ultimately their undoing.
Mikey Moore could have made it more comfortable for Rohl’s side with 15 minutes remaining. Having shown quick feet to engineer a yard of space inside the box, he curled a delightful effort towards McCracken’s bottom right-hand corner. The keeper reacted well to turn it around the post.
Danilo – remember him? – came off the bench to make sure of the points in the first minute of stoppage time, pouncing on a loose ball before dispatching a neat finish beyond the reach of the Dundee stopper.
Gassama put some gloss on the scoreline with the last kick of the game, cutting inside from the left and curling a wonderful strike into the far corner.
It’s been a while since Ibrox has been rocking like this. The club put out a rallying call on social media this week encouraging fans not to leave the stadium early. It looked like the message was received.
You don’t often associate the word positivity with the long-suffering Rangers supporters. They’re certainly full of it at the moment.
RANGERS (4-2-3-1): Butland 6; TAVERNIER 7, Djiga 6, Fernandez 6, Meghoma 6; Raskin 5.5, Chukwuani 6.5 (Diomande 53); Aasgaard 6.5 (Bajrami 73), Skov Olsen 6 (Gassama 74), Moore 6 (Curtis 81); Miovski 5 (Danilo 81).
Booked: Djiga
Manager: Danny Rohl 7.
DUNDEE (4-1-4-1): McCracken 7; Wright 6, Astley 6, Graham 7, Samuels 7; Hamilton 6; Congreve 6 (Bevan 72), Jones 5 (Robertson 72), Dhanda 5 (Cotterill 82), Yogane 5 (Reilly 82); Hay 5 (Murray 81).
Booked: Hamilton
Manager: Steven Pressley 5.
Referee: Kevin Clancy 5.
Attendance: 50, 165
