Rangers 5 Dundee 2: Instant reaction to the burning issues

Brendan Rodgers and his men might have thought they were going to seal the Premiership crown from their sofas as quickfire first half goals from Jordan McGhee and Antonio Portales had some Rangers fans heading home before their half time pie.

Ross McCausland poked one home at the other end though just before the interval to give the hosts some hope, and they completed the comeback with plenty to spare in the end as second half strikes from Cyriel Dessers, Todd Cantwell and a Scott Wright double kept the Celtic champagne on ice.

Here are the talking points from Ibrox…

DERBY DISAPPOINTMENT LINGERS AT FLAT IBROX

Ok, it was hosing it down. And it was a half seven midweek kick off, live on the telly. But still, had Rangers not lost to Celtic on Saturday their supporters would have packed Ibrox to the rafters, and the difference between what the atmosphere could have been and the reality could hardly have been starker.

As it was, there were more than a few empty seats, and a rather soulless feel about the whole occasion. The Union Bears tried to muster – or feign - some enthusiasm, but the whole evening had the feel of a pre-season friendly, or a testimonial for a long serving but not overly popular player.

When Dundee hit the front seven minutes before the interval, the goal wasn’t even met with the usual anger, more groans of resignation. When they hit a second a couple of minutes later though, the home fans were finally roused through their rage.

A good few even got up and headed for the exit. Rangers would ultimately drag themselves back into the game, but many had seen enough of this performance, enough of this season, and enough of many of these Rangers players.

OWEN DODGSON IMPRESSES DESPITE DUNDEE CAPITULATION

For all that Owen Beck is the flying full back who has got the headlines for Dundee this season, Dodgson has slipped in seamlessly since Beck’s campaign was brought to an end through injury.

He had a tough act to follow, but the on-loan Burnley youngster has impressed, and he showed the quality he has in that left foot twice in quick succession here as he created both of Dundee’s goals.

The first delivery was a low ball to the back post that took out the entire Rangers defence, allowing McGhee to side-foot home down off the ground and over the despairing Jack Butland.

The second goal just moments later was almost a carbon copy, with Dodgson getting his head up this time and whipping in a beauty of a ball that picked out centre back Portales, who produced a quite brilliantly improvised finish into Butland’s far corner.

The chances of bringing Beck back on loan next term from Liverpool may be slim for Tony Docherty, but he will be desperately hoping he can persuade Burnley to allow Dodgson to come back up the road and continue his development at Dens.

RANGERS BACKLINE CONTINUES TO WOBBLE AS LEON KING GIVEN A CHANCE

The injury crisis at Ibrox meant that the youngster was handed his first start for a year in a centre back pairing with Ben Davies, and his rustiness was evident.

Without being too harsh on the 20-year-old, he wasn’t able to show Rangers manager Philippe Clement what he had been missing by leaving him kicking his heels since his arrival. He was indecisive at times, and should have done better at Dundee’s opener.

In fairness to him, he was hardly alone in that. The Rangers defending for both goals was dire, from McCausland’s token efforts at stopping the crosses coming in from Dodgson to the dozy defenders leaving the ball to one another when the ball duly arrived.

King hasn’t caused, or even been on the pitch to cause Rangers’ defensive deficiencies over the past few weeks. But he didn’t show much here to suggest he can offer a solution to them either before going off injured late on.

CAN CYRIEL DESSERS KEEP HIS SPOT AT SHARP END OF ATTACK?

It will be interesting to see what Clement does in the main striker’s position at Ibrox next season once Danilo is fit, and if he brings in reinforcements during the summer.

For all that Dessers has quietly went about racking up a more than decent tally now of 22 goals this season after his fine header here that dragged his side level, he can’t quite shake the perception that he isn’t quite good enough to be the main man leading the line for Rangers.

He clearly cares deeply for the club and gives it his lot, which is appreciated by the Ibrox faithful. But whether that is enough – or should be enough – to maintain his place at the sharp end of the attack next season is open to debate.

As if to illustrate the point, he managed to divert (an admittedly fizzing) Cantwell cross over the bar from a couple of yards late on, and brought groans from the Rangers support with his indecisiveness at times.

DID CANTWELL MEAN THE CRUCIAL THIRD?

Not a chance, in this correspondent’s humble opinion, but the goal that flew past McCracken and into his far stanchion was spectacular to watch, if more than a little fortuitous.

In fairness to Cantwell, he was a lot brighter in the second half after a quiet first period, and was perhaps due a bit of luck having gone close to both scoring and creating on a number of occasions.

There appeared little danger when he picked the ball up wide on the Rangers right, with Dundee happy enough to allow him to swing a cross into the area. He duly tried to do just that, but the ball took off from his foot at a wicked angle and at a fair old rate of knots, deceiving the Dundee keeper and kissing the far post before nestling into the net.

And fair play to Cantwell for trying to inject a bit of life into his team, with Wright emerging from the bench to complete the job with two decent finishes to leave the mood around Ibrox at least a little lighter than it had been at various points in the evening.