A late penalty from Mikel Arteta prevented Rangers from suffering a severe
setback in their quest for their first championship in three seasons.
On an extraordinary afternoon which saw Scotland defender Lee Wilkie score an
own goal and concede two penalties, both of which were missed by Barry Ferguson,
Rangers came perilously close to a defeat which would have taken matters out of
their hands at a most crucial time.
Celtic can now move level on points however, and go ahead on goal difference
if they win by four, with a midweek success at bottom club Motherwell.
It is the tightest championship race for years and this match seemed to have a
season's worth of incident packed into it, including two stunning first-half
strikes from Dundee striker Fabian Caballero.
Wilkie had been claimed as the fall guy in the very first minute when he
managed to turn an Arthur Numan cross from the left past his own goalkeeper.
Rangers' joy at such a gift was palpable and within the space of a few minutes
Julian Speroni had to make saves from Ferguson, Fernando Ricksen and Arteta as
well as coming off his line to stop Michael Mols going clear.
But this, along with a trip to Hearts in two weeks' time, was always going to
be a severe test of Rangers' championship credentials, especially as they were
without the injured Lorenzo Amoruso on this occasion.
And it was Caballero who began asking the questions the title pretenders could
not answer.
The home side had threatened only rarely before the Argentinian, who had
postponed his South American wedding so it would not clash with the Tennent's
Scottish Cup final, fired in a well-struck equaliser in the 17th minute.
Fellow countryman Beto Carranza, making his first start of the season
following a serious knee injury, set him up on the edge of the box and, after
taking a touch, he gave Rangers keeper Stefan Klos no chance.
His second, in the 28th minute, was even better as he picked the ball up from
near the halfway line before taking advantage of retreating defenders to send a
scorching 25-yard shot into the net. Klos managed a touch this time but still
the net rippled.
Fortune had favoured Dundee earlier in the half when Gavin Rae had appeared to
have barged Ricksen over in the box and they enjoyed two huge portions of good
luck in the final moments of the half.
The first came in the shape of a linesman's raised flag after Ronald de Boer
had expertly diverted a Peter Lovenkrands cross past Speroni with a glancing
header.
The second was a reprieve for Wilkie, whose personal nightmare continued with
a foul on Mols to concede a nalty.
Ferguson took it - and saw it bounce back into play off the crossbar.
The first half had seen Kevin Muscat booked for sparking a brawl after Mols
had been hurt by a Jonay Hernandez challenge and the second period was just
seconds old before Steve Lovell was shown a yellow card for a late tackle on the
Australian.
Rangers came at Dundee furiously and Speroni had to tip a Ricksen free-kick
over and Giorgi Nemsadze's head was well-placed to get in the way of a
goal-bound Arteta drive.
But Dundee were soon back in control of the game and a double substitution in
the 67th minute which saw de Boer and Peter Lovenkrands replaced by Shota
Arveladze and ex-Dee Claudio Caniggia reflected that.
The chances had dried up at both ends, which suited Dundee, who had Hernandez
booked for timewasting.
Rangers pushed men forward and Wilkie had to throw himself in the way of a
Ricksen shot after Craig Moore had won a header at the back post.
Bob Malcolm, Amoruso's deputy, was booked for a crude challenge on Caballero
as Rangers' frustrations boiled over.
That also appeared to be the case when Arteta stuck an arm in Hernandez's face
but the incident appeared to go un-noticed by the referee, whose attention had
been caught by a crude challenge by Ferguson on Caballero seconds later.
Zurab Khizanishvili had to make a last-gasp challenge to stop Mols going
through and the Georgian, who has publicly declared he would love to join
Rangers, needed treatment after Arteta had blazed the loose ball over.
But then the game returned to its earlier status where anything could happen -
and did.
First Wilkie conceded his second spot-kick of the day when he needlessly
barged Arveladze over as the pair chased a long ball from Ricksen.
Ferguson stepped up again - and saw Speroni dive to save.
Seconds later and referee John Rowbotham was pointing to the spot again having
been convinced a David Mackay had handled in the box.
Dundee complained bitterly that David Mackay had been pushed into it by
Malcolm but Mackay received only a booking for his pains.
This time Arteta took it and made no mistake to breathe new life into his
side's championship challenge.
This was also a dress rehearsal for the Cup final on May 31 and Dundee will go
into that match believing they can lift that trophy after this performance.
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