He showed class and guile in the midfield, linking superbly with Barry Ferguson and Ronald de Boer, who was also outstanding in a more advanced role, and there seems little doubt that there is even better to come from the brilliant Basque.
Arteta may be slight in terms of physical stature, but he did not shirk a challenge all day and his work rate was also exceptional. That could be said for all of the Rangers players, though, as they gave McLeish the endeavour that he demands.
It looked like it might be a procession when Ronald de Boer headed Rangers into the lead after just 12 minutes, but it took them until the 66th minute to make certain of victory when Shota Arveladze fired in the second goal.
Substitute Peter Lovenkrands made it a more appropriate scoreline when he slammed in the third goal three minutes from time and overall it was a fine performance from the Ibrox men, who wore their new tangerine kit at Ibrox for the first time.
There is no doubting of the technical ability of Alex McLeish’s side and they indicated their passing skills to the full, bamboozling Dundee for most of the contest with their fluent play.
Indeed, it was only when Dundee fell two behind that they started to have a go which made the contest more enjoyable as a spectacle but they had left themselves far too much to do.
Interestingly, McLeish opted to use Fernando Ricksen in the midfield area which allowed Kevin Muscat to come in to make his SPL debut in the right back slot. It was a runaway success.
Ricksen was also excellent, working the right side really well, although there were no failures in the Rangers ranks. The only criticism which could be levelled at the Ibrox men is that they did not win more convincingly, but let’s not get too picky.
There was a reasonable element of pressure on Rangers because this was a match they simply had to win having drawn the opening fixture at Kilmarnock.
This situation was exacerbated due to the fact that by the time they took to the field, Celtic were two up at Pittodrie and well on their way to a comfortable 4-0 win.
The delay was due to a power failure which prevented fans from gaining access with their smartcards, but if the Rangers players were feeling any tension they didn’t show it.
They completely controlled the first hour of the game and the fact that they only had de Boer’s goal to show for it was scant reward. It was, however, an excellent goal.
It was Arteta who created it with a well-struck corner from the left and de Boer flicked a great header which had gone over the line before one of the Dundee line hacked it away.
There was one concerning moment in 18 minutes when recent Dundee recruit Nacho Novo burst away from Lorenzo Amoruso and should have scored but lobbed over the bar. However, it was merely a blip in the proceedings.
At 1-0 up you are always susceptible, but Arveladze eased the concerns in 66 minutes when Muscat played the ball into Tore Andre Flo and the big striker cleverly released Shota on his left side and the Georgian slammed his third goal in a week having scored at Killie last Saturday and netted a penalty against Leeds in midweek.
Cue Lovenkrands to send the fans home more than contented. He replaced the excellent de Boer and took a pass from Arveladze three minutes from time to burst away from the Dundee defenece and finish in some style with his left foot.
His handspring celebration was equally impressive and the Ibrox fans lapped it up. It was a fitting end to an excllent Rangers performance.
RANGERS: Klos; Muscat, Numan, Moore, Amoruso; Ricksen, Areta, Ferguson (c); Arveladze; Flo, De Boer (Lovenkrands 74). Subs not used: McGregor, Ross, Konterman, Caniggia.
Bookings: Moore (62), Arteta (70)
DUNDEE: Speroni; Mackay, Smith (c), Wilkie, Hernandez; Novo (Caballero 71), Nemsadze, Rae, Mair (Robb 71); Milne Sara. Subs not used: Langfield, Marrocco, Beith.
Bookings: Milne (50), Mair (52), Rae (53).
Referee: Alan Freeland
Attendance – 47,044
Man of the match: Mikel Arteta