Rangers’ recent regression continued with a grim goalless draw at Dundee which further dented their increasingly-fragile cinch Premiership title hopes.
The Ibrox side lost for the first time ever against Ross County on Sunday in the poorest performance since boss Philippe Clement took over last October and the Gers boss was looking for a reaction against the Dark Blues.
In a game played at the third time of asking after the Dens Park pitch was twice ruled unplayable, there was no improvement against a Dundee side who impressed.
The travelling Gers fans urged their team on after the break but they lacked imagination and guile and again heard boos at the final whistle.
With five post-split matches remaining including a trip to Celtic Park, the Light Blues are three points behind the Hoops at the top of the table and have hit the skids at the wrong time.
Rangers will now prepare for the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup semi-final against Hearts at Hampden Park on Sunday with newly-acquired trepidation.
Tony Docherty’s Dundee, who commendably clinched a top-six place on their return to the top flight, are now three points behind fifth-placed St Mirren and they deserved their point.
It is now just two wins in eight in all competitions for Clement’s stumbling side.
Utility player Dujon Sterling, midfielder Tom Lawrence and striker Kemar Roofe returned to the side with the latter making his first start since December 20 as Borna Barisic, Kieran Dowell and Cyriel Dessers dropped to the bench.
Ricki Lamie, Owen Dodgson and Malachi Boateng were back for the Taysiders, who came close to scoring within a minute when Boateng’s low drive just escaped Ibrox keeper Jack Butland’s right-hand post.
Dundee skipper Joe Shaughnessy limped off after 10 minutes to be replaced by Antonio Portales before Gers attacker Abdallah Sima outstripped the home defence but his low drive was blocked by the foot of Jon McCracken, the Dundee keeper saving another effort from the Brighton loanee moments later.
Dundee played the better football. In the 22nd minute Butland parried a Luke McCowan free-kick from 25 yards and Scott Tiffoney got to the rebound first to help it on to Amadou Bakayoko to knock over the line from a yard out but the offside flag went up.
Rangers toiled, threatening only occasionally.
McCracken pushed a curling free-kick from Gers skipper James Tavernier round the post then saved a Connor Goldson header from the resulting corner but it was the more composed and fluid home side who were applauded off at the break.
Rangers stepped up the tempo at the start of the second half but a spark of creativity was absent and Dundee’s defending was organised.
In the 56th minute, Clement tried a shake-up and Dessers, Dowell and Rabbi Matondo replaced Roofe, Todd Cantwell and Fabio Silva and McCracken soon had to save from Lawrence’s drive from a tight angle.
McCracken pulled off a fine save from Dessers’ curling shot as the Dees defence were stretched for once and held a tame Tavernier header but it was mostly huffing and puffing from the visitors while Dundee were always a threat.
Worryingly for Gers fans, their side have suffered a dip in form at the wrong time of the season.
Jack Grealish believes he should have been in England's Euro 2024 squad
Jack Grealish thinks that he should have been part of England's Euro 2024 squad.
Grealish was initially called up for the Three Lions' 33-man training squad, but was one of seven players who did not make the final squad for Germany.
England reached the final, losing 2-1 to Spain.
The 29-year-old has been back in the fold under interim manager Lee Carsley, and impressed in September's Nations League matches against the Republic of Ireland and Finland.
"I will be honest with you, I didn’t really agree with it," Grealish told BBC Radio 5 Live of Gareth Southgate's decision not to include him among the final 26 players.
"You need a bit of a balance in every position on the pitch and I class myself [as] quite an experienced player now.
"I have won a lot of stuff now so, you asked me should I have gone, yes, I still think I should have, but obviously it wasn't meant to be."
Grealish started just 10 league matches for Manchester City in the 2023-24 season, scoring three goals and providing one assist.
While he admitted that he "didn’t have the best season" domestically, he was left "devastated" by his omission and said that missing out on Euro 2024 was "probably the most difficult period of my life".
Grealish scored in England's 2-0 victory over Ireland in Dublin last month, and will be hoping for more of the same against Greece and Finland in the coming week.
Asked if he felt he had a point to prove, Grealish made it clear that he wanted to show people what England were missing at Euro 2024.
"Of course, I wanted to come here and train well and play well," he said.
"I thank Lee Carsley for giving me that chance and having that trust in me.
"It obviously really meant a lot. I think throughout my career when I have played under managers who have shown trust in me and communicated with me the way he has the last two camps, it really helps me.
"It makes me feel that the manager really does rate me and I can't speak highly enough of him since I have been here."
Chelsea edge Real Madrid in Women's Champions League thriller
Chelsea kicked off their 2024-25 Women's Champions League campaign with a 3-2 victory at home to Real Madrid in Group B.
The victory puts the Blues in second in their group after one match, while it was a perfect start for manager Sonia Bompastor, who was taking charge of her first Champions League game for the club.
Bompastor led Lyon to the Champions League final in two of the last three seasons, winning it in 2021-22. She will be hoping to do the same in west London this season and things got off to the perfect start for her and Chelsea in this game.
Sjoeke Nusken's second-minute goal put the home side ahead - unsurprisingly, that is the quickest goal in the Champions League this season.
In miserable weather at Stamford Bridge, things got even better for the hosts after they were awarded a penalty for a foul on Nusken. Guro Reiten made it 2-0 from the spot in the 28th minute, with Madrid goalkeeper Misa Rodriguez unable to get a hand to it despite diving the right way.
But Madrid were back in it 11 minutes later, with Alba Redondo finishing tidily through Zecira Musovic's legs - her second Champions League goal in as many matches.
They were unable to make the most of that lifeline, with Chelsea restoring their two-goal advantage soon after the break. Mayra Ramirez scored her first goal of the season, heading in Lauren James' cross seven minutes after the restart.
The drama was not finished though. Substitute Linda Caicedo once again cut the deficit for the visitors, making it a nervy final seven minutes for Chelsea, but the home side held on to claim a valuable three points.
Chelsea have now lost just one of their last 19 group stage matches (W13 D5) and are unbeaten across their last 13 (W10 D3); the only other team to have participated in every group stage since they were introduced in 2021 and lost just once is Barcelona (W16 D1).
Elsewhere in Group B, Celtic were beaten 2-0 by FC Twente in their opener, which marked their first-ever game in the Champions League.
Kayleigh van Dooren netted twice for the Dutch side, although the Scottish champions held out until the 44th minute before conceding.
In truth, they were second-best with the visitors dominating possession, having over 70% of the ball, and taking double the shots on target of their hosts (six to three). Twente got a second five minutes from time and go top of the group.
Palmer named England's Men's Player of the Year
Cole Palmer has been named England's Men's Player of the Year for 2023-24.
Chelsea star Palmer came off the bench to score in the Euro 2024 final, although England ultimately lost 2-1 to Spain in Berlin.
Palmer has only nine caps to his name, and just two starts for the Three Lions, but he finished ahead of Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka in the public vote.
The 22-year-old made his debut in a 2-0 win over Malta in November of last year, and has scored two international goals, including that strike against Spain in July.
Palmer is the first Chelsea player to scoop the award since Ashley Cole in 2010.
Since he joined Chelsea from Manchester City last season, Palmer has directly contributed to 44 league goals (28 goals, 16 assists).
Of players to feature in Europe's top five leagues, his England team-mate Harry Kane has provided more goal contributions (53 - 41 goals, 12 assists) in that time.
Earlier this season, Palmer became the first player to score four goals in the first half of a Premier League match when he scored all of Chelsea's goals in a 4-2 win over Brighton.
Palmer is expected to feature when England take on Greece in the Nations League on Thursday.
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