Vaclav Cerny nets winner as Rangers edge past Dundee
Rangers leapfrogged Aberdeen into second place in the William Hill Premiership with a deserved but ultimately nervy 1-0 home win over Dundee.
On the day that the club celebrated the 125th anniversary of Ibrox, the Light Blues struck the woodwork twice in the goalless first half.
Winger Vaclav Cerny got the winner with a breakaway goal a minute after the restart, his 10th since arriving on loan from Wolfsburg in the summer.
Striker Hamza Igamane should have doubled the home side’s lead after the break but hit the bar from close range and Rangers missed several more opportunities to keep the game alive until the end.
Philippe Clement’s side moved one point ahead of Aberdeen, who lost 3-1 at home to Hibernian, and eight behind leaders Celtic, who play at Dundee United at Tannadice on Sunday.
The three points were a tonic for Rangers’ recovery from last week’s Premier Sports Cup final disappointment.
Scottish Football Association head of referees Willie Collum admitted the Light Blues should have had a spot-kick before their penalty shoot-out defeat by Celtic at Hampden Park and the furore around the VAR team’s “unacceptable” mistake was fierce.
Rangers had to respond.
There was some drama before the game when it was announced that goalkeeper Liam Kelly, in his second spell at Ibrox, was taking over from Jack Butland, who failed to survive the warm-up, while Dujon Sterling and Danilo came in for Leon Balogun and Nedim Bajrami.
Dundee had Trevor Carson replacing Jon McCracken in goal with Scott Tiffoney in for the injured Oluwaseun Adewumi.
There was a flatness to Ibrox and Rangers’ performance at the start of the game, certainly in comparison to the tumult at the national stadium last week.
In the 17th minute Dundee defender Antonio Portales’ mistake handed Danilo half a chance at the edge of the Taysiders’ penalty area but his low drive was comfortably saved by Carson.
Moments later as Rangers pressed again, midfielder Ianis Hagi’s powerful strike from 30 yards skimmed the visitors’ crossbar.
Rangers’ probing continued – and some of it was clever – but Dundee defended in depth.
In the 28th minute, after Jefte was tripped 30 yards from goal, Rangers skipper James Tavernier crashed the free-kick off the crossbar and had a second attempt following the rebound but the Dundee rearguard remained solid, as Cerny found out when his right-footed drive was pushed away to safety by Carson.
Less than a minute into the second half Danilo sent Cerny racing clear and he rounded Carson before slotting into the net and VAR confirmed he was onside.
Tavernier headed a Igamane cross past the post before Hagi had the ball in the Dundee net after another break only to be flagged offside which VAR confirmed.
As Dundee pushed forward they left gaps behind.
In the 69th minute Igamane got through on to a Hagi pass but saw his dinked shot evade Carson only for defender Jordan McGhee to clear the danger.
Then Igamane somehow hit the underside of the bar from six yards from a Nicolas Raskin cut-back, after the midfielder had linked up with substitute Ross McCausland, on for Cerny.
Only a goal down, Dundee were always in the game and every foray inspired anxiety among the home fans
In the 83rd minute Cyriel Dessers replaced Igamane with Hagi making way for Ridvan Yilmaz but it was McCausland who missed a glaring chance in the 90th minute, thrashing a shot over to end a swift counter-attack, before Dessers hit the top of the bar.
