Dundee United suffered their maiden Scottish Premiership defeat of the campaign as Rangers claimed a 1-0 victory at Tannadice on Sunday.
Tom Lawrence notched the only goal of the game – the first time the Tangerines had conceded in 277 minutes of football – as the visitors took full advantage of United stumbling from the blocks.
United were left to rue a couple of wasted Kristijan Trapanovski opportunities but ultimately failed to display the incisive touch required to restore parity, despite an improved second half.
Courier Sport analyses the talking points.
Paying the price for passivity
“We need to start the game in a positive fashion,” said Jim Goodwin last week as he encouraged his players to explode from the blocks and give the United fans something to shout about.
What transpired could barely have been more different.
The Tangerines were criminally passive and effectively lost the game due to not competing in the early knockings.
The decisive goal characterised everything wrong with the hosts’ start; sloppily surrendering possession before allowing Lawrence to barge through some powderpuff bumps and attempts to tackle.
Even a tactical foul would have done the trick. This is a streetwise United side – that’s not beyond their wiles.
Rangers were sharper, more aggressive and popped the ball around the Tannadice turf with ease.
Lawrence, Oscar Cortes and Mohamed Diomande continually found pockets of space between United’s midfield and defence, with the Terrors’ pressing game non-existent.
It is a compliment to United’s recent performances that their pedestrian start was so startling. Aside from the opening 45 minutes against Ross County and their first game of the season at Falkirk, United have scarcely been so poor.
Something had to change.
Tactical tweaks turning the tide – but will Jim Goodwin stick with them?
Goodwin accepted the blame for getting United’s initial shape wrong.
But he remedied that swiftly and just like against Ross County and St Johnstone, his side showcased good malleability.
While the seamless switches from 3-4-3 to 3-5-2 have been a feature of the campaign so far, Sunday’s in-game change to 4-3-3 was even more eye-catching.
Within a couple of minutes of moving to a more central role, David Babunski took possession in a crowded cluster of Rangers players, dropped the shoulder, produced an ice-cool turn and started an attack.
The North Macedonia international has done a fine job in recent outings on the right, but he is far more comfortable in the heart of the action.
When Ross Docherty (more on him later) entered the fray to replace Kevin Holt, there was a nice balance. Docherty, Babunski and Craig Sibbald were a feisty trio, and they immediately added bite and energy in the engine room.
They got in Rangers’ faces.
The big question, following a fourth successive unchanged starting 11, is: was Goodwin sufficiently impressed by the impact of the changes to shake things up for the trip to Motherwell on Friday?
Just what the Doc ordered
Docherty was excellent after climbing from the bench on 34 minutes.
Goodwin is rightly handling the United club captain with kid gloves following a string of maddening fitness set-backs last season. Now Docherty is back, he needs to be back for good.
However, if he is now ready to start games, then he made a compelling case to be on the teamsheet at Fir Park.
The former Ayr United and Partick Thistle skipper plugged gaps, made a couple of intrepid bursts forward and his passing was arguably the most effective of United’s midfielders.
Docherty’s sumptuous, clipped ball to Trapanovski in the second period could have resulted in a leveller. It should have certainly resulted in the winger at least getting a shot away.
A very heartening showing and – not that his ability was ever the aspect onlookers questioned – but there’s no doubt Docherty can cut it at Premiership level.
The telling shots on target stat
It would be ludicrous to pillory United after a first defeat in eight games.
And their overall display, having recovered from the ropey start, was decent enough.
However, it is also possible to accentuate the positives too much.
United failed to register a single shot on target against a vulnerable Light Blues side on a run of three wins in seven games.
Once the Tangerines established themselves in the contest, the Glasgow outfit looked jumpy. Misplaced passes; rushed clearances; Keiran Dowell and Tom Lawrence faded badly after the break.
With a little more quality on the ball, United could have salvaged at least a point.
Instead, Jack Butland had no cause to dirty his gloves.
United – aside from the opening 20 minutes on Sunday – are a strong defensive unit, but fans will hope there is more to come in the final third.
Hampden calling?
United could barely ask for a more inviting chance to bounce back from their first defeat since July 13.
There will be no time to lick their wounds before attention turns to Friday night’s trip to Fir Park for the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final against Motherwell.
An onerous test against a team that has lost just two of 10 competitive fixtures this season – but the draw could have been worse.
And the carrot of a Hampden semi-final is a potent one.
Get the job done in North Lanarkshire and the defeat against Rangers will swiftly be a distant memory.
