Rangers rediscovered their composure and attacking rhythm in the City of Discovery this afternoon, defeating Dundee 3-0 at Dens Park and recording a third consecutive Scottish Premiership victory under head coach Danny Rohl.
Goals from Nicolas Raskin, Djeidi Gassama and Spurs loanee Mikey Moore sealed the points, as Rangers responded exactly as required following back-to-back defeats to Celtic and Roma in the League Cup semi-finals and UEFA Europa League respectively.
It was not entirely smooth sailing in the early stages. Steven Pressley’s Dundee carved out the first major chance inside just three minutes when Ethan Hamilton’s driven free kick forced Rangers keeper Jack Butland into a sharp stop.
From that point on, however, Rangers settled and began to dictate the tempo. The breakthrough came after just eight minutes, and it arrived in simple but emphatic fashion.
Captain James Tavernier delivered an out-swinging corner to the near post, where Raskin rose superbly, generating the power and angle needed to redirect his header across Jon McCracken into the far corner. A goal Rangers sorely needed, and a moment Raskin has been searching for after a recent run of poor form.
The lead was doubled before the quarter-hour mark. Danilo was dispossessed on the edge of the Dundee box, but the loose ball broke kindly to Moore, who showed the confidence of a player reborn under Rohl.
The winger drove into space and finished calmly beyond McCracken for his first goal since joining on loan from Tottenham in the summer.
Moore has been one of the standout beneficiaries of Rohl’s arrival, having endured criticism during Russell Martin’s tenure earlier in the campaign.
His energy, directness and positional intelligence were on full display again here, and he thought he had a second shortly after the half-hour mark.
A sequence of chances saw John Souttar’s effort blocked, Danilo denied by McCracken and then Moore sweeping home, only for Kevin Clancy on VAR to intervene.
The goal was ruled out on the grounds that Mohammed Diomande, in an offside position, was deemed to be obstructing McCracken’s view, despite the keeper making a save in the move.
The decision was met with audible frustration from an away end sick of decisions going against their side in recent matches.
Rangers, though, kept their control and secured the result late on. With Dundee tiring, Gassama collected possession 20 yards out, shifted onto his right foot and curled a precise finish into the top corner, ending his seven-game goal drought and rounding off a composed and professional away performance.
For Rohl, that’s now three league wins on the bounce and growing signs of cohesion as well as cutting the gap on lead leaders Hearts, who drew with Dundee United at Tynecastle.
For Rangers, it is momentum, and belief, at a crucial time in the season.