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Dundee 0 Rangers 0 – Gers’ title dreams suffer ANOTHER blow as Clement’s men drop yet more vital points in horror run
Rangers are on their worst winless run in the league for FIVE years
AT Dens it was finally game on.
But for Rangers in the title race it looks like game over.
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Dundee deserved draw here gave their European hopes a massive boost.
For Philippe Clement this was yet another dire display on a night when the away supporters once again had a right to demand much, much more.
Rangers were rank rotten against Ross County.
This time it was diabolical in Dundee with Tony Docherty’s men well worth their point.
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Now with just one win in their last five league games, Clement’s side have lost form at the worst possible time as the Premiership title seems destined to stay with Celtic.
Twice in the first-half the their players complained that the ball was flat.
But they weren’t pumped up enough either.
That’s why the away fans heckled the team as they trudged off the pitch after the final whistle.
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Dundee will probably just be relieved to get this game played and out the way.
March 17 was its original date.
Incredibly for the Dark Blues, that took their number of postponements to five for the season, with the SPFL now set to hammer them with a severe fine at a Hampden hearing this afternoon.
With broadcasters Sky Sports also looking for £100,000 to cover their costs, it’s maybe just as well Tony Docherty’s side have secured the financial rewards of top six football.
For all that, though, whoever was in charge of the Dens Park sound system last night managed to maintain an impressive sense of humour.
Deacon Blue’s Raintown and Simple Minds’ Waterfront were just two of the topical tunes played as the two teams warmed up.
The two sets of players would have been desperate to get the action started after all the talking that’s gone on.
But when it did, it was very much the home side that looked like they were determined to make up for lost time.
There wasn’t even a minute on the clock when Malachi Boateng fired off a shot that flashed just inches past Jack Butland’s post.
It was a warning shot, alright.
A clear sign that Docherty’s Euro-chasing team weren’t going to play cagey football.
The Dens boss was dealt a blow early on with skipper Joe Shaughnessey limping off after only five minutes to be replaced by Antonio Portales.
But Dundee’s defensive shape and organisation wasn’t affected one little bit.
Rangers did have a couple decent chances in the first-half.
Abdallah Sima ran through on keeper Jon McCracken but couldn’t beat him.
Connor Goldson also had a header from a corner which was beaten away with the Dens No1 getting down brilliantly to get a strong hand to a James Tavernier.
But overall, there just wasn’t enough creativity from Clement’s side in that first 45 minutes. They certainly didn’t look like a group of players fighting tooth and nail for the title at that stage.
As they left the pitch for the interval, the away fans tried to rouse them into raising their game ahead of the second-half.
The way Dundee were grafting hard all over the pitch - and playing some cracking stuff too, by the way - would have been worrying those travelling supporters at that point.
If they are unfamiliar with the Dundee team, Luke McCowan was the blond headed boy who was outstanding.
Dundee had the ball in the Rangers net after 20 minutes but a linesman’s flag rightly went up with Amadou Bakayoko spotted in an off-side position.
There was also a moment when John Souttar handled the ball on the edge of the Rangers box but got the benefit of any doubt from the officials.
Docherty would have been asking for more of the same at the break, Clement had work to do.
He waited until ten minutes into the second-half to make his first personnel changes with Fabio Silva, Todd Cantwell and Kemar Roofe all taken off.
They were replaced with Rabbi Matondo, Kieran Dowell and Cyriel Dessers and none of the three being hooked could have any complaints.
In fairness to Roofe, this was his first start since December 20 against St Johnstone.
But Silva and Cantwell had a cheek to trudge off with a look on their faces to suggest that they felt the decision to take them off was harsh.
If anything, Clement could have acted sooner.
Dundee didn’t offer as much in an attacking sense as they did in the first-half with Rangers enjoying the lion’s share of the ball.
But they weren’t making the most of it and time was fast running out on them to make their possession count.
Dessers tried to grab the initiative with a terrific shot in 72 minutes which brought another good save from McCracken.
Dundee then sparked back into life and were close to taking the lead themselves.
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Jordan McGhee was picked out at the back post after a break forward but opted to try and find a team-mate instead of firing off a shot and the chance was gone.
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