Rangers make Dundee suffer

Dundee 0 Rangers 3

The last time Dundee defeated Rangers, 20 months ago, Claudio Caniggia was still playing for them. So, on a day when their charity in front of goal cost them dear, it must have been galling to watch the man they pocketed £1million for sitting wrapped up on the visitors' bench.

Argentina's World Cup veteran was not needed as Alex McLeish's team maintained their unbeaten record at the top of the Scottish Premier League with goals from other sources, the defensive pair Robert Malcolm and Craig Moore, while Peter Lovenkrands added his seventh of the season.

McLeish savoured the ruthless nature of his team's approach. "We demand that they keep driving on in games once we go ahead," said the Rangers manager, "and the experienced players are bringing a winning mentality to the younger ones."

His counterpart, Jim Duffy, summed up his day with one terse word: "Frustration." The Dundee manager had preached to his players all week about the need to take chances when facing the Old Firm, but the plot headed to an inevitable conclusion when Nacho Novo failed to punish Rangers with the goal at his mercy after two minutes.

The winger seized on a deft pass from Georgi Nemsadze which had caught out Moore. The Dundee forward rounded the goalkeeper, Stefan Klos, but delayed his angled finish long enough for Moore to block his shot on the line.

Rangers took the warning seriously. Lovenkrands twice carved the home team apart, but each time the alert Julien Speroni, in the home goal, snuffed out the danger.

When Dundee allowed another opportunity to slip away, in the 20th minute, they risked a heavy payback. No blame could be attached to Fabien Caballero, who conjured up an audacious back-heel from a low cross by Garry Brady, but when the ball crashed off the post Rangers made full use of their escape.

Ten minutes later, Malcolm put the leaders ahead after Mikel Arteta's corner was thumped on to the crossbar by the head of Moore and dropped kindly for his fellow defender to place a right-foot shot beyond Speroni.

The odds became even greater for Dundee after they were reduced to 10 men in the 44th minute, when Zura Khizanishvili brought down Ronald de Boer as the Dutchman burst clear and, as the last man, received a red card for his crime.

The Georgian defender's misjudgement was compounded when Lovenkrands doubled Rangers' advantage five minutes into the second half. The lack of personnel caught Dundee out as Arteta got to the by-line and delivered a cross which sat up invitingly for Lovenkrands to plant a header beyond Speroni.

With a comfort zone established, Rangers' play became a touch soporific, which allowed Dundee, especially the elusive Caballero, plenty of possession, but they failed to show a cutting edge.

Speroni dealt superbly with a Lovenkrands volley from De Boer's deep cross before Moore added an emphatic third goal in the 79th minute, rising to meet Arteta's corner and powering a downward header that punched a hole through the posse of dark-blue shirts clustered in front of the goalkeeper.

"Our defending was sloppy," declared Duffy, "but you can't give teams like Rangers a goal start."

Dundee 0 Rangers 3
Malcolm 30, Lovenkrands 50, Moore 79

Half-time: 0-1 Attendance: 10,124