Amadou Bakayoko had Dundee ahead with less than five minutes played at Ibrox, but it was a great response from Philippe Clement’s men as goals from Cyriel Dessers, James Tavernier and Abdallah Sima saw Rangers to victory.
From Wednesday evening’s victory over Hearts, there were five changes as John Souttar, Borna Barisic, Jose Cifuentes, Rabbi Matondo and Cyriel Dessers all came into the starting line-up.
Tom Lawrence and Danilo were both missing through injury, while Ridvan, Connor Goldson and Ross McCausland were on the bench this afternoon.
Rangers started at Ibrox with Jack Butland in goal and a back four of James Tavernier, John Souttar, Leon Balogun and Borna Barisic.
John Lundstram, Jose Cifuentes and Todd Cantwell are in midfield, while Rabbi Matondo and Abdallah Sima will support striker Cyriel Dessers.
It was Rangers who got the action underway and tested Dundee goalkeeper Trevor Carson straight from kick-off. Jose Cifuentes found himself in space at the edge of the box and with just 30 seconds on the clock he tried a low drilled effort at goal but it was held by the goalkeeper.
It was a lively start and with just three minutes played, Dundee had a chance to open the scoring as Lyall Cameron weaved his way into the box before getting a low shot at goal but Jack Butland did well to tip it wide with a good save.
However, from the resulting corner, it was the visitors who had the lead. The ball was swung into the box and was headed back towards goal with Amadou Bakayoko getting the final touch to finish and give his side the early advantage.
Rangers were still dominating at Ibrox as they looked for a route back into the match and found the first response in the 20th minute. James Tavernier’s cross was cleared by Ricki Lamie but only as far as Todd Cantwell who picked up the ball on the edge of the box and played in Cyriel Dessers.
The strikers’ first attempt was blocked by a Dundee body in the box but on the rebound Dessers found the back of the net with a left-footed finish to draw the game level.
Just minutes later, referee Kevin Clancy was called to the VAR monitor to review a pull on Abdallah Sima inside the box as Rangers searched for a quick second.
Following a review, the referee pointed to the spot and awarded the Light Blues a penalty. Captain James Tavernier once again took to the spot and made no mistake in sending a powerful right-footed strike beyond Carson to give Rangers the advantage at Ibrox.
Dundee were still looking to cause problems, as Zak Rudden headed over from a Lyall Cameron cross.
Philippe Clement’s men managed to increase their lead with 10 minutes of the first-half remaining and it was a perfect set-piece from Rangers. It was a superb delivery into the box from James Tavernier, with Abdallah Sima rising to send an unstoppable header beyond Carson for his fourth goal in the last three games.
Rangers thought they had a fourth before the break with a lovely goal from Todd Cantwell, but the referee had blown for a foul in the build-up.
Gers were really pushing for a fourth as Rabbi Matondo broke down the left to pick-out Cyriel Dessers in the box. His shot was blocked with Trevor Carson pulling off a superb save to deny Todd Cantwell on the rebound.
Seconds later, the ball landed for James Tavernier as Rangers looked to keep the pressure on, and the captain sent a looping effort towards goal only to be denied his second of the match by the crossbar.
In first-half injury time, there was another VAR check as Kevin Clancy was called to the monitor to review a yellow card he had shown to Jose Cifuentes. On watching the foul back, Clancy returned to show the Ecuadorian a red card.
At half-time the manager made two changes with Rabbi Matondo and Todd Cantwell replaced by Ross McCausland and Dujon Sterling, with the latter taking up position in midfield.
McCausland had a strike at goal as Rangers continued to look for a fourth at Ibrox with James Tavernier finding the youngster on the right. He drove into the box before getting a right-footed shot away at the near post, but it was held by Carson.
Dundee were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the box with just over an hour played as Dujon Sterling fouled Cammy Kerr. Luke McCowan and Lyall Cameron both stood over the set-piece with the former taking the shot which curled just wide of Butland’s right-hand post.
Clement turned to his bench again shortly after as Kemar Roofe was introduced in place of Cyriel Dessers in attack.
From a Rangers free-kick, Leon Balogun almost had a goal as Borna Barsic whipped an inviting delivery into the box, but the defender’s shot was cleared off the line by Dundee captain Joe Shaughnessy.
A final change for the Light Blues saw Leon King introduced in place of John Lundstram.
Dujon Sterling was unlucky not to have his first Rangers goal with a fine strike from distance, but he was denied by the post, with Abdallah Sima unable to find the target from the rebound.
RANGERS: Butland, Tavernier, Souttar, Balogun, Barisic, Lundstram (King, 89), Cifuentes, Cantwell (Sterling, 46), Matondo (McCausland, 46), Sima, Dessers (Roofe, 72).
Subs: McCrorie, Ridvan, Goldson, Lammers, Davies.
Dundee: Carson, Portales (Kerr, 26), Shaughness, Lamie, McGhee, Cameron, Boateng, McCowan, Donnelly (Tiffoney, 51), Bakayoko (Robinson, 69), Rudden (Reilly, 51).
Subs: Legzdins, Ashcroft, Mulligan, Robertson, Sylla