SO, life without Barry Ferguson still goes on.
Admittedly the victory was a lot less accomplished than the scoreline may suggest, with the Light Blues needing two late goals to finally see off Ian McCall’s men.
Having scored the goal against FC Copenhagen that shot Rangers into the Champions League, Shota Arveladze repeated the trick this afternoon when he volleyed home Fernando Ricksen’s cross just minutes after Billy Dodds’ header looked to have earned a point for the home side.
To add an extra sheen to the scoreline, Mikel Arteta netted a late penalty to add to Nuno Capucho’s first half goal as Gers survived a tough test at Tannadice to end a busy week on a high.
Ferguson was not the only notable absentee from the Rangers’ line-up. Henning Berg and Michael Ball both failed late fitness tests to join Craig Moore and Peter Lovenkrands on the injury list, with Bob Malcolm and Paolo Vanoli stepping into the breach.
After the champagne and caviar glamour of the Champions League draw, it was back to the stodgy meat and potato fare of the Premier League again for Alex McLeish’s side.
Facing Dundee United may not carry the same appeal as playing against their Mancunian namesakes but Rangers warmed to the task with gusto nevertheless.
A bright start saw Ronald de Boer denied by Tony Bullock – Arveladze struck the crossbar with the rebound – before the Light Blues took the lead in the 14th minute.
De Boer made ground down the left to feed Michael Mols and his cutback was volleyed into the gaping net by Capucho for his first Rangers goal.
United were looking for their first point of the season but were once more left on the back foot as the Light Blues looked to add to their tally.
Mols headed wide from an Arteta cross before the Dutchman was denied by the agility and alertness of Bullock after 23 minutes.
United’s attacks in the first half were like an apology from Tony Blair – rare and hardly convincing – and anything they offered was mopped up calmly by Malcolm and Zurab Kihizanishvili.
The only concern that may have troubled McLeish as he walked up the tunnel at half-time was that his team had only registered once on the scoresheet despite 45 dominant minutes.
There was more to trouble the Gers boss just five minutes into the second half when de Boer seemed to jar a knee as he ran in on goal and had to be replaced by former Tannadice favourite Steven Thompson.
The energy seemed to drain out of Rangers for a spell as United started to enjoy prolonged spells of possession and Stefan Klos – captain for the day – had to stretch to touch Charlie Miller’s bouncing shot over the crossbar.
Two minutes later, after Arveladze had been robbed of the ball, Klos again had react quickly to deny another long-range effort from Miller.
McLeish reacted quickly by bringing on the Brazilian Emerson for his debut – with the flagging Capucho making way – as Rangers sought to reverse the flow of play.
It was another substitute, however, who was to have a bigger impact on proceedings when Dodds, only on the field around 15 seconds, headed Jason Scotland’s cross past Klos for a deserved equaliser.
The United fans celebrated wildly thinking their side had finally gathered its first league point but they hadn’t reckoned with Arveladze’s late, late show.
Just as in Copenhagen, the Georgian controlled a headed pass – this time from Thompson – and volleyed a late winner past Bullock.
With just three minutes remaining, Rangers made sure of the victory when Chris Innes hauled down Mols and Arteta slammed home the penalty.
The scoreline slightly flattered the Light Blues but McLeish will be happy to have brought an eventful week to a winning conclusion.
DUNDEE UNITED (4-4-2): 17 Bullock; 2 Griffin, 25 Innes, 5 Archibald, 15 Duff; 7 Kerr (Paterson 86), 8 Miller, 4 McInnes, 11 Robson (Dodds 81); 10 McIntyre, 9 Samuel (Scotland 71)
Subs not used: Gallacher, McCracken
Booked: McInnes (65), Miller (74)
RANGERS (4-4-2): 1 Klos; 2 Ricksen, 12 Malcolm, 15 Khizanishvili, 16 Vanoli; 20 Capucho (Emerson 64), 8 Nerlinger, 23 Arteta, 7 Arveladze; 14 de Boer (Thompson 50), 10 Mols
Subs not used: McGregor, Hughes, Ross
Booked: Nerlinger (70)
Man of the Match: Zurab Khizanishvili