Dundee 0-3 Rangers: Player ratings + talking points as 8/10 Tottenham loanee stars amid signs of progress
How we rated the Rangers players in their 3-0 Scottish Premiership win over Dundee at Dens Park
Danny Rohl made it three successive Scottish Premiership wins in relatively comfortable fashion as Rangers swept past lacklustre Dundee 3-0 at Dens Park to rise up to fourth in the table.
In a one-sided first-half, a Nicolas Raskin’s header from James Tavernier’s corner and a classy Mikey Moore finish - opening his account for the Light Blues since arriving on loan from Tottenham - had the visitors in control in Tayside.
Djeidi Gassama added a touch of gloss to the scoreline in stoppage time to secure a valuable three points and continue the Ibrox side’s revival under their new head coach.
For Rangers domestically, it’s all about trying to stay in touch with runaway league leaders Hearts at present. Rohl’s men were eased aside 2-0 by Roma in the Europa League on Thursday night - another glimpse of his team’s shortcomings.
However, they headed for the City of Discovery bidding for a third successive league win and the German decided to revert back to an old fashioned 4-4-2 formation with Danilo and Bojan Miovski favoured in attack over criticised £8 million summer signing Youssef Chermiti.
Dundee - sitting second-bottom of the table - were aiming to conjure up the type of performance that saw them beat reigning champions Celtic last month. Steven Pressley’s men will have also taken confidence from their 1-1 draw at Ibrox earlier in the season.
Following an impeccably observed minute’s silence to mark Remembrance Sunday with both sets of supporters paying tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country, the hosts got off to a promising start.
The returning Mohamed Diomande gave a needless free-kick away in a promising position withing minutes of kick-off, with Ethan Hamilton forcing visiting keeper Jack Butland to push his effort away to safety.
That early promise quickly fizzled out, though, and Rangers struck first after eight minutes when captain James Tavernier’s in-swinging corner was met unchallenged by Nicolas Raskin, who was allowed far too much room on the edge of the six yard box to loop a header beyond Jon McCracken.
It was 2-0 just six minutes later when forward Mikey Moore finished off a slick passing move involving Diomande and Danilo by sweeping a low shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the penalty area for his first goal in a Gers shirt.
Dundee looked disjointed and were lacking inspiration without main talisman Simon Murray up front. They almost fell even further behind after 38 minutes when Danilo’s initial effort was blocked before the dangerous Moore fired home the rebound through the legs of Diomande, who was in an offside position.
However, after a lengthy VAR review, the Ivorian midfielder was ruled to have interfered with play by obstructing McCracken in the Dundee goal. A let-off for the men in Dark Blue.
The home side had posed little in the way of an attacking threat and youngster Luke Graham was left with his head in his hands just before the interval after blazing high and wide of the target from a free-kick, which had been knocked down by Emile Acquah.
Despite being in total control, Rohl opted to freshen his side up for the start of the second half by making a triple substitution with Chermiti, Connor Barron and Thelo Aasgaard introduced for Miovski, Diomande and Danilo.
Aasgaard drew a superb fingertip save from McCracken after 49 minutes as Rangers hunted a killer third goal before Chermiti slid a well weighted pass through for Djeidi Gassama who stung the palms of McCracken.
The introduction of Murray on the hour mark brought some much-needed energy to Dundee and moments after fellow substitute Yan Dhanda’s strike was comfortably gather by Butland, the home skipper found space in behind the Gers backline but his shot lacked the necessary power to trouble the keeper.
Still, there was signs of encouragement for the Tayside outfit. Rangers, once again, were struggling to put the game to bed and offering their opponents a route back into the contest with some slack moments in possession.
Butland was called into action again, thwarting a long-range effort from Hamilton. But just when it appeared that the momentum had swung in Dundee’s favour, McCracken produced arguably the save of the match to claw away a powerful Raskin header from yet another teasing Tavernier set-piece.
Rangers seemed content to see out the closing stages without much goalmouth action, but they did eventually add a third goal in the first minute of stoppage time when Gassama cut inside before curling home a sublime effort past the outstretched McCracken from the edge of the box.
Signs of progress at long last from Rangers as a delighted Rohl lapped up the acclaim of the travelling support at full-time. They are back within 12 points of the pacesetting Jambos with a game in hand after recording a welcome clean sheet.
Here, GlasgowWorld breaks down three main talking points from the 90 minutes and how the Rangers players fared:
Moore dazzles at Dens
It has been a challenging start to his Ibrox loan for Mikey Moore, who earlier this week insisted he had no regrets over making the move to Govan from North London. The England youth international endured a torrid opening few months under previous boss Russell Martin, but has looked a totally different player since Rohl’s arrival in recent weeks.
The German boss has managed to eek out more improvement in the teenager, who illustrated why Rangers were so eager to bring him to Scotland in the summer with this dazzling display. His first strike from long range was precise and left the keeper with no chance and the Spurs prospect was denied a second goal before half-time.
Rangers profit from fast start
Rangers are currently on their best league run since February, with head coach Rohl still maintaining a 100% record in the Premiership. While the tempo dropped significantly in the second half, the damage was done early doors on this occasion.
Jon McCracken had a busy afternoon between the sticks for Dundee, making several important saves. But he could do little to prevent Raskin’s header and Moore’s finish from hitting the back of the net. Moore, in particular, was a constant menace as he drifted into central positions with ease.
Miserable Miovski missing spark
For all the criticism £8million man Youssef Chermiti has received, his fellow strike partner hasn’t fared much better of late. The North Macedonian cost an initial £2.5m but the former Aberdeen hitman has struggled to replicate the type of form that earned him a big money move to La Liga.
Miovski hasn’t set the heather alight in his 17 appearances to date with just two goals to his name. And he never looked like adding to that tally here. Guilty of some sloppy hold-up play during the opening 45 minutes, it was no surprise to see him replaced at the break. Rohl will want to see a lot more from Miovski.
Rangers player ratings vs Dundee
GK - Jack Butland (7/10)
RCB - John Souttar (6/10)
LCB - Derek Cornelius (6/10)
CM - Mohamed Diomande (5/10)
CM - Nicolas Raskin (7/10)
RM - Mikey Moore (8/10)
MM- Djeidi Gassama (6/10)
CF - Danilo (6/10)
CF - Bojan Miovski (5/10)