Trailing to an early Stuart Duff goal, Rangers battered United into near submission, dominating play and unleashing a torrent of attempts on Tony Bullock’s goal.
Too often, however, the attempts were wide of target or poorly struck and when they did find a way through they found a goalkeeper in Bullock enjoying the night of his life as he nonchalantly pulled off a string of heart-breaking saves.
The Tannadice side have been a prickly thorn for Rangers to contend with in recent times – in league matches anyway – and it was no different on this occasion as they pushed, pressed and harried their opponents at every opportunity.
If their 4-5-1 starting formation had hinted at a backs-to-the-wall display that notion was blown out the water after just seven minutes when they silenced a capacity Ibrox crowd with the opening goal.
Maurice Ross, reinstated at right-back in place of the suspended Barry Ferguson, dithered on the ball allowing Jim McIntyre the space to flight in a tempting cross.
Duff’s first attempt was well blocked by Ronald Waterreus but the stranded keeper was helpless as the midfielder gratefully nodded in the rebound to hand United a shock lead.
Stung into action, Rangers rallied and should have gone in front when presented with two golden chances in front of goal.
Surprisingly, it was twin strikers Nacho Novo and Dado Prso – 42 goals between them going into this clash – who were the culprits with some awry shooting.
Novo was first to miss the target, latching onto Prso’s pass after a beguiling turn from the Croatian but thundering his shot high over the bar.
If anything Prso’s miss, just three minutes later, was even worse. Novo slipped a pass wide to Hamed Namouchi who in turn found the former Monaco man unmarked at the far post.
With Bullock drawn out of position expecting a shot from Namouchi, it seemed a simple task for Prso to find the net but he somehow dragged a tame effort wide.
A clash of heads midway through the first half between Namouchi and Sotirios Kyrgiakos – the Greek had to go off for treatment – summed up Rangers’ dwindling fortunes in the first half as they continued to huff and puff without reward.
United seemed willing to let the Light Blues dominate possession and Novo threatened again, this time hitting the target but finding Bullock blocking the route to goal.
Minutes before the break the Spaniard, seeking his first league goal since March 2, was again sent clear on goal following an incisive pass from Namouchi but could only scoop a tame effort into the hands of the grateful Bullock as the groans resounded round Ibrox once more.
It was a similar story in the second half. Twice within the opening minutes the Light Blues threatened the United goal but found Bullock in the way, the keeper collecting comfortably from a Prso drive before flipping a fierce Novo shot over the crossbar.
When Bullock was finally beaten by a looping Novo header, former Ger Paul Ritchie performed heroics to nod the ball away before it could drop into the gaping net.
The frustration mounting both on and off the park, McLeish withdrew Namouchi and Gregory Vignal and threw on Shota Arveladze and then Peter Lovenkrands to try to somehow find a way through an iron-tight United defence.
Arveladze’s first real involvement was to nod Fernando Ricksen’s corner back across goal but Bullock was again equal to Kyrgiakos’ goalward header.
As the seconds ticked down, Rangers were struggling to even create chances never mind convert them and Arveladze was unable to get on the end of a deflected shot from Alex Rae as Ibrox held its breath more in hope than expectation.
The Georgian completed an unwanted hat-trick with just eight minutes remaining when he contrived to head over from less than five yards after substitute Steven Thompson had headed Novo’s cross right into his path.
When Bullock then completed a superlative personal performance with spectacularly acrobatic saves from Prso and then Kyrgiakos, Rangers knew the game was up. One can only hope the same doesn’t apply to the season as a whole.
RANGERS (4-4-2): 25 Waterreus;, 21 Ross, 12 Malcolm (Thompson 79) 16 Kyrgiakos, 18 Ball; 31 Namouchi (Arveladze 56), 2 Ricksen, 8 A Rae, 24 Vignal (Lovenkrands 62); 9 Prso, 10 Novo
Subs not used: McGregor, Burke, McCormack, Khizanishvili
Booked: None
DUNDEE UNITED (4-5-1): 1 Bullock; 2 Wilson, 23 Ritchie, 39 Kenneth, 5 Archibald; 9 Samuel (Crawford 64), 12 Duff, 7 Kerr, 8 Brebner, 11 Robson; 10 McIntyre (Grady 90)
Subs not used: Colgan, Dodds, Scotland, Callaghan, Robertson
Booked: Robson (82)
Man of the Match: Dado Prso