Thompson makes his mark as Rangers pull clear

Rangers 3 Dundee 1

Steven Thompson made an immediate contribution as he began his Rangers career with a goal on his debut yesterday to help increase his side's lead at the top of the Scottish Premier League.

The Scotland striker, signed on Tuesday from Dundee United, came off the bench to end Dundee's hopes of snatching a point at Ibrox with an 82nd-minute goal. But the biggest cheer of the day from the 49,000 home fans came with news of Celtic's draw at Aberdeen, which stretches the gap between the Old Firm pair to three points as the league shuts down for the winter break.

Although Ronald de Boer had restored Rangers' advantage before half-time, after Steve Lovell had cancelled out Barry Ferguson's 14th goal of the season for the leaders, it was an uncomfortable second-half for Alex McLeish's team. Indeed, they were indebted to Stefan Klos for denying Lovell a second goal which would have tied the game just minutes before Thompson scored.

Dundee had come to Glasgow determined to match the adventurous display they put on at Celtic just a few weeks ago, but that boldness proved their undoing when they were caught on the counter-attack by Ferguson, who opened the scoring in the 20th minute.

Fabian Caballero lost the ball just outside the Rangers area and his former Dens Park colleague, Claudio Caniggia, transferred it to De Boer, who neatly found Ferguson's well-timed run. That took the Rangers captain beyond the visiting defence and he steered a right-foot finish past the goalkeeper Julian Speroni.

If Rangers thought that would be the last they would hear from their visitors, they were wrong. Within two minutes, Lovell had equalised. Caballero exposed Rangers' weakness in defence as he drove at them before shooting across the face of the goal where Lovell, unmarked, stabbed a shot past Klos.

Rangers ought to have restored their lead before the interval, but Michael Mols wasted a fine opportunity after being sent clear by De Boer. De Boer himself then missed embarrassingly, shooting wide from 20 yards with the goal at his mercy after Speroni's kick-out had been charged down by Peter Lovenkrands.

De Boer atoned for his error two minutes before the interval. Lovenkrands took a clever pass from Mols and picked out the Dutchman, who beat Speroni from 14 yards. Thompson had to wait an hour before getting his first taste of action, but eight minutes from the end he was perfectly placed to meet a low cross from De Boer and score from close range.

Rangers (4-3-3) Klos; Ross, Moore, Amoruso, Muscat; De Boer, Ferguson, Malcolm; Caniggia (Thompson, 60), Mols (McLean, 79), Lovenkrands (Nerlinger, 84). Substitutes not used: McGregor (gk), Gibson.

Dundee (4-3-3): Speroni; Mackay, Khizanishvili, Mair, Hernandez; Smith, Rae, Bradey (Novo, 68); Milne, Caballero, Lovell (Robertson, 82). Substitutes not used: Soutar (gk), Beith, Robb.

Referee: T Brown.