Close call chills McLeish

Rangers 2-1 Dundee utd Subs: Malcolm for Emerson 75, Duffy for Mols 83, Vanoli for Burke 86.

Not used: McGregor, Ross.

Booked: Ball 89.

Referee: J Underhill.

Attendance: 49,307.

IAN McCall, on his first visit to Ibrox as Dundee United manager, escaped from Govan with his dignity intact after his side almost stole a draw from the jaws of adversity. Had Emerson not missed a first-half penalty when Rangers were already two goals ahead and in complete command, a rout of embarr-assing proportions looked inevitable.

Instead Paul Gallacher, who saved his side on innumerable occasions, pulled off an excellent save and in the second half a decent contest ensued after Billy Dodds, who minutes earlier was denied a stonewall penalty, hauled his side back into the game. Had Rangers dropped a point after all their early superiority, the Ibrox crowd would have gone apoplectic.

Having watched the second half through gaps in his fingers, Alex McLeish said: "That was totally unnecessary. We should not have allowed ourselves to be in that position given the penalty miss and the other chances we had in the first half.

"Having said that, we still created chance after chance in the second half and the finishing was all that was missing. It was disappointing that so many slipped past the post, but the good thing is that we created so many openings."

Rangers will hope that Shota Arveladze, who has a knee injury, will be fit for Tuesday night's Champions League match against Panathinaikos, but on the evidence of yesterday's proceedings, with Chris Burke again outstanding, Rangers should have enough ammunition to at least secure the draw they need to qualify for the Uefa Cup.

McCall, who rather dubiously claimed it was "hugely disappointing" not to have earned a draw after the much-improved second-half display, was furious at Dodds being denied his penalty, but when he has looked at the video he may take a more balanced view of the whole 90 minutes.

United started confidently, spraying the ball about the midfield, but it wasn't to last long. A foretaste of what was to come arrived in the second minute when Burke found himself one-on-one with Gallacher but swept the ball across goal and past the goalkeeper's right-hand post.

Once Rangers had found their bearings they didn't so much probe down the right flank as use Burke's energy and exuberance to make the first half a misery for Barry Robson and Alan Archibald. It rubbed off. Even Emerson and Nuno Capucho, who have tended to treat these occasions as a stroll in the park, upped the tempo.

With Capucho pushing so far forward through the middle that Rangers were often dep-loying a 4-2-4 formation, the stretched United defence started to look increasingly fragile. Michael Mols and Capucho had opportunities to capitalise on through balls from Stephen Hughes and Burke before the first goal duly arrived in the 16th minute.

Capucho found it embarrassingly easy to hold off David McCracken some 25 yards out and bore down on Gallacher. This time there was no reprieve for United as the much-criticised midfielder struck the ball into the net.

McCall was becoming an increasingly agitated figure in the United technical area and three minutes later he had further cause for anguish. Again the attack started on the right, where Fernando Ricksen headed the ball down to Mols. He fed Burke on the touchline and the youngster's cross arrived on the napper of Peter Lovenkrands to spark off somersault celebrations.

Two goals down in less than 20 minutes is the nightmare scenario for sides visiting Ibrox, and there was much relief in the United ranks when referee John Underhill whistled for offside as Mols put the ball in the net for a third time.

Even so, McCall's side were having to resort to desperate measures to hold off Rangers, who were now also raiding strongly down the left. In the 38th minute and after incessant pressure, Rangers got the chance to seal the game up and showboat for the rest of the afternoon.

Mark Kerr, who had a poor game, brought down Loven-krands in the box, although the first infringement was outside it. Emerson, and not Michael Ball who took spot-kicks for Everton, stepped forward to take the resultant penalty.

The ball was well struck, but Gallacher made a brilliant diving save at his left-hand post before rising to his feet and punching the air in delight.

If that couldn't encourage United, nothing could, and they went on to not only avoid the drubbing that looked on the cards but make the second half fraught for McLeish's side.

The visitors emerged for the second half with Craig Easton replacing Mark Wilson at right-back and Dodds moving forward from the midfield to partner Jim McIntyre.

The former Rangers striker was denied a definite penalty almost immediately when he was tripped inside the box by Zurab Khizanishvili, but Mols and Lovenkrands both had good chances before United most unexpectedly came back into the match in the 55th minute.

United won a disputed corner on the right which caused chaos in the Rangers box when Robson swung it over. McIntyre's first header was cleared off the line by Hughes, but he got a second nibble and Dodds, lurking on the line, pounced on the loose ball to lash it into the rigging.

It would be inaccurate to suggest that the flow of the game was reversed, but faced with this new situation some of the free-flowing football ebbed out of Rangers, particularly when the source of their energy, man-of-the-match Burke, understandably started to tire.

The best chances still continued to fall to the home side, and none better than the opportunity afforded to Cap-ucho 20 minutes from time when he collected a Ricksen cross on his chest. But instead of volleying the ball into the net he tried to lob Gallacher and ballooned the ball over the bar.

United substitute Charlie Miller sent a shot whistling past the post with three minutes remaining but, despite McCall's later protestations, a draw would have represented larceny on the grandest of scales.

Copyright 2003 SMG Sunday Newspapers Ltd.
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