They missed a hatful of chances and suffered the horror of going behind to Gavin Rae’s opportunistic goal but came back with a strike from top performer Shota Arveladze and a Craig Moore header.
Rangers made it difficult for themselves but they showed the right character and desire to go on and win the game which surely augurs well for Tuesday’s CIS semi-final against Celtic at Hampden.
You are never quite sure what you will get when Dundee come to town. They have some of the most exciting players in the SPL and when they play to form they can be a handful.
Although they largely played a containing game, Stefan Klos had to be on the top of his form to deny the Tayside team with a string of excellent saves.
Rangers, with greater possession, also had excellent chances and if both sides had taken their first half opportunities the scoreline might have read 4-4 at the break.
Indeed, if Klos had not been in his toes, Dundee would have taken the lead inside the first minute. A cross from Quique Torres on the right broke to Temuri Ketsbaia and his shot smacked off the junction of left post and bar.
The startled Rangers defenders were still wondering what was going on when Torres was onto the rebound and hammered a right foot shot which Klos blocked brilliantly.
Der Goalie also made another tremendous save from Ketsbaia’s ferocious left foot drive in 21 minutes but his double save to deny the Georgian in 36 minutes was even better.
The former Newcastle midfielder burst forward from his own half and hammered a left foot shot which Klos blocked superbly. Inexplicably, Ketsbaia was first to the rebound as the Rangers defenders were slow to react and Klos made another fine save to keep him out.
Rangers, though, had some superb chances of their own and it was a mixture of great goalkeeping which kept them out it was poor finishing. Barry Ferguson picked out Tore Andre Flo with a great diagonal pass but the Norwegian striker’s chest control was poor and Julian Speroni was able to make a blocking save.
In 16 minutes Ferguson produced another delivery of high quality picking out Amoruso and the Italian’s powerful header was pushed over the bar by Speroni.
The Dundee keeper then denied Moore from Caniggia’s cross in 19 minutes and in 29 minutes it was the Argentinian veteran’s turn to miss when he stabbed the ball over after Flo had flicked on Vidmar’s throw.
Even when Speroni was beaten, Dundee managed to keep Rangers out a minute later when David Mackay blocked Arveladze’s shot on the line.
Still the chance came for Rangers and still they managed to miss them. Lovenkrands hit a great freekick from the right in 37 minutes which was perfect for Amoruso but the big defender completely miscued his header.
A minute later Arveladze headed wide after brilliant work from Caniggia and McLeish must have wondered if it was going to be one of these days.
The chances continued to go abegging in the second half as Caniggia shot wide in 59 minutes after Lovenkrands had teed him up and then Speroni made a brilliant save from the young Dane after Shota had beaten off the attentions of fellow countryman Ketsbaia to set him up.
Rangers’ inability to convert was then punished in the worst possible way when Dundee scored on the breakaway in 70 minutes and a cold day looked like becoming completely bleak.
Beto Carranza fired a great ball over the top which sent substiture Steven Milne scampering through the middle. Klos managed to narrow the angle enough to force the striker to miscue his shot but Gavin Rae followed up to slide the ball into the net.
Previously Rangers might not have come back from this kind of body blow but they dug deep to produced two goals in the space of three minutes to win the match and give themselves the shot in the arm they want for Tuesday night.
It was Stephen Hughes who started the move in 73 minutes which led to the equaliser, slipping a good ball into Flo who moved to his left side and hammered a low shot which Speroni stopped but could not hold.
The ever alert Arveladze was onto the ball in a flash and squeezed a right foot shot into the net and Ibrox rose as one to salute him.
Three minutes later victory was theirs. Walter del Rio was booked for hauling down Lovenkrands on the left side, Ricksen clipped over the cross and Moore rose above everyone to direct a header into the right corneer.
It was a resilient response to going behind and just the kind of reaction McLeish craved as he now sets his sights on his Old Firm debut on Tuesday night.
RANGERS: Klos; Moore, Amoruso, Vidmar; Ricksen, Hughes, Arveladze (Numan 77), Ferguson;Caniggia (McCann 85), Flo, Lovenkrands. Subs not used – McGregor, Dodds, Konterman.
Bookings: None.
DUNDEE: Speroni; Mackay, del Rio, Zhiyi, Smith; Carranza, Torres, Rae, Romano (Kemas 45), Ketsbaia (Artero 71); Caballero (Milne 60). Subs not used: Langfield, Robertson.
Bookings: del Rio (75), Smith (86)
Ref: Stuart Dougal
Att: 48,861.
Man of the match: Shota Arveladze
Moment of the match: The brilliant double save of Klos to deny Ketsbaia.