Rangers manage to move up, but not in gears

Rangers ended talk of an immediate crisis at Ibrox, but, on an afternoon of madness and mayhem, the fear for their fans is that it may have been just that if this low-key performance against Dundee is anything to go by. . .

It was another indifferent show from a team devoid of confidence, although it eased the pressure on beleagured manager Dick Advocaat and right now any victory is welcome on the south side of Glasgow as Celtic march imperiously onwards.

The 2-0 win courtesy of goals from Michael Mols and Fernando Ricksen was at best efficient against a Dens Park side who missed outstanding opportunities to inflict further misery on a club still smarting from missing out on qualifying for the Champions League. During such a boring spectacle it was remarkable that each team contrived to have a man sent off, Neil McCann for slicing open Barry Smith's leg, and Beto Carranza, for a sly kick at Ricksen.

However, Rangers will be pleased to have recorded three much-needed points.

Mols scored the opening goal after a trademark turn and shot that beat Jamie Langfield after 24 minutes with full back Ricksen hitting the crucial second after 67 minutes although in between Zura Khizanishvili and Juan Sara missed spectacularly easy chances to equalise.

After the match, Dundee manager Ivano Bonetti launched a vitriolic attack on McCann for "a very bad challenge" and added: "There are only three Rangers players - Claudio Caniggia, Russell Latapy and Lorenzo Amoruso - who I would want for my team. For me it is already clear that Celtic will win the league for sure."

The assessment is hard to argue with for, while Rangers struggled, Celtic romped home against Hibs on Saturday with goals from Moravcik, Larsson and two from Sutton leading manager Martin O'Neill to applaud his team's performance as "outstanding".

Lubo Moravcik opened the scoring after 16 minutes with a precise drive from the edge of the area before Chris Sutton struck a second within a minute when he intercepted a poor Ulrik Laursen back-pass.

Hibernian's misery was compounded in the 20th minute as Sutton grabbed his second and slack marking at a corner 10 minutes later allowed Henrik Larsson to grab the fourth. Canadian international Paul Fenwick celebrated his 32nd birthday with a consolation goal for the Easter Road side.

Rangers, however, remain in stormy waters.

In the other game yesterday, manager Bobby Williamson's Kilmarnock side won 2-0 win at Dundee United.

Paul di Giacomo, one of Williamson's star performers, gave the visitors a first-half lead and Andy McLaren, who had come on after 14 minutes for the injured Michel Ngonge, wrapped up the points with a header in the second period.

"I'm very pleased with their performance today. We had a good mixture of youth and experience and both blended well," he said.