The Dee overcame a dreadful injury list to take a well deserved point from a 1-1 draw against Rangers at the Scot Foam Stadium. Seun Adewumi gave the Dark Blues an early lead but Vaclav Ceny equalised before half time. In the second half Rangers had more possession but the Dee defence was on top form and Dundee carried a constant threat on the break. In the second half Adewumi had a second goal disallowed for a very tight offside decision, Rangers’ midfielder Mohamed Diomande struck the bar with a long range shot, and the teams had to settle for a draw. That was the very least that the Dark Blues merited.
Dundee made three changes to the team that beat St Johnstone on Sunday. Ethan Ingram, Aaron Donnelly and Cesar Garza replaced Luke Graham and Seb Palmer-Houlden, who were on the bench, and Lyall Cameron, who was ill. Donnelly was making his second Dee debut after signing yesterday, following last season’s loan spell from Nottingham Forest, and Garza made his first start.
Rangers spent the opening few minutes on the attack without offering any great threat. Nedim Bajrami spun away from Ryan Astley to shoot but scuffed his shot well wide.
The Dark Blues didn’t attack until the sixth minute and Rangers’ defence failed that first test. Connor Barron couldn’t clear from Seun Adewumi and that allowed Ethan Ingram to cross. Scott Tiffoney’s shot was blocked with the ball breaking wide for Josh Mulligan to screw a cross back from the byline. ADEWUMI scored neatly with a first time shot from 10 yards.
Rangers’ defence continued to look shaky. Aaron Donnelly had a header blocked from a corner and his follow up shot was blocked.
Dundee, with less possession, were the more dangerous side with far more direct attacks. Rangers played the ball around the Dark Blue penalty area with loose passes and careless control repeatedly ending attacks.
The Dark Blues had three penalty claims that were borderline at best and the VAR reviews unsurprisingly went Rangers way. Perhaps Dundee were distracted by the second, when Simon Murray went down in the penalty area, and were caught on the break. Liam Kelly sent a quick pass out to Ianis Hagi on the left. Hamza Igamane took over and sent Vaclav CERNY clear coming in from the right. The Czech winger cracked home the equaliser from a tight angle.
Dundee responded well to the disappointing loss of a goal, continuing to threaten when they came forward against a diffident defence.
Rangers made a half time substitution, sending on Welsh winger Rabbi Matondo in the place of Ianis Hagi. The visitors started well after half time, but it still took them 10 minutes to give the Dee defence any real trouble. Bajrami played a fine pass through the Dee defence for Jefté. His cross broke for Cerny but Trevor Carson saved well. That was Rangers’ best chance in open play of the second half. Indeed it was their only real chance of the half.
After coping well with that early spell of pressure Dundee started to move forward more and came agonisingly close to regaining the lead after 65 minutes. Mulligan made a great run down the right, exchanged passes with Tiffoney and sent Murray clear. The striker pulled a low cross into the goalmouth and Adewumi volleyed into the roof of the net. The flag went up for offside and the VAR review established that Murray was fractionally offside.
Carson saved well from Igamane’s 20 yard effort, and Kelly did likewise when Adewumi had a go from the same distance.
Dundee continued to look impressively calm, confident and comfortable as the match entered the closing stages. Seb Palmer-Holden and Julien Vetro came on for Simon Murray and Scott Tiffoney to give Rangers fresh problems with their fresh legs and energy.
After an impressive debut Cesar Garza went down with what looked like cramp and was replaced by Sammy Braybrooke for the last 15 minutes.
There was no frantic late charge from Rangers to try and win the game. Rangers did attack, but it was hardly fierce pressure. However, the only truly worrying moment was a huge scare. Mohamed Diomande hit a dipping shot from 25 yards against Carson’s crossbar. That was how Rangers were most likely to score. They struggled to get through a Dee defence that stood firm against attacking which lacked guile, composure and conviction.
It was no surprise that the Dark Blues held out for a fully deserved draw, and there is lingering disappointment that it was only a single point. This would have been a very fine and pleasing performance in any circumstances. It was outstanding considering there were so many players missing through injury, others having to play in unfamiliar positions, and two players making their debut. No fewer than nine of the fourteen players who took the field tonight for Dundee were 23 or younger.
Dundee’s defence has taken plenty of criticism this season, but they were solid and well organised tonight. Aaron Donnelly picked up where he left off last May and looked as if he had never been away as he slotted in immaculately at centre back alongside Clark Robertson and Ryan Astley. Ethan Ingram deserves credit for the way he performed at left wing back. Mo Sylla and Cesar Garza were excellent in midfield, and Simon Murray and Scott Tiffoney worked hard and carried a goal threat whenever they were on the ball in attack, where they were often supported by Josh Mulligan’s aggressive running.
However, the man of the match, surely according to every observer, was Seun Adewumi. The 19 year old was superb. His skill, drive and composure were superior to anything Rangers could offer.
A draw was a good result, but this was a team performance from the Dark Blues that really merited all three, and it was without 10 missing players.
Dundee FC 3-4-2-1
Carson (c)
Astley, Clark Robertson, Donnelly
Mulligan, Sylla, Garza (Braybrooke 78), Ingram
Tiffoney (Vetro 70), Adewumi
Murray (Palmer-Houlden 70)
Unused subs: McCracken (gk), Sharp (gk), Graham, Main.
Goal: Adewumi (6).
Booked: none.
Rangers 4-2-3-1
Kelly
Yilmaz (McCausland 81), Pröpper, Nsiala, Jefté
Barron (Danilo 66), Bajrami
Cerny (Cortes 86), Diamonde, Hagi (Matondo at half time)
Igamane
Unused subs: Munn (gk), Rice, King, Dessers, Dowell.
Goals: Cerny (34).
Booked: Jefté (foul on Tiffoney), McCausland (foul on Adewumi).
Referee: Calum Scott. Assistants: Daniel McFarlane, Calum Spence. VAR: Greg Aitken. Assistant VAR: Gary Hilland.
Attendance: 8,606.
Report: James Christie.
