Rangers had to make a run for the airport on Thursday night as they raced to get out of Storm Eowyn’s path.
That was just as well for former Manchester United stopper Jack Butland, who couldn’t wait to get out of town quick enough after his horrid Old Trafford blunder grounded Gers’ hopes of reaching the Europa League last 16. But the under-fire keeper was happy to hang around at Tannadice and soak up the plaudits he deserved for helping Gers to soar victory on Tayside.
The Ibrox No1 held his hands up after chucking in the opener against his old side last week. It was an awful clanger from a man who hasn’t been short of critics this term. But he responded magnificently against Dundee United, pulling off key stops to keep out big chances for Luca Stephenson and Kai Foderingham as Jim Goodwin’s team tried to turn the heat up on Gers.
Philippe Clement joined the applause at full-time as the travelling Light Blues legions hailed the goalie after their 3-1 triumph. And the big Belgian said later: “Scrutiny, it’s part of being a goalkeeper, or a centre-back.
“If you make a mistake and you get a goal, people say all the things you do wrong. At Man U, for sure they were not happy also with how he defended
“Cyriel Dessers did a fantastic touch and a fantastic goal top almost get us a result. So that’s part of football.
“But that doesn’t bother Jack. I’m happy he’s back.
“I’m happy also with Liam Kelly, what he’s been doing in the time that Jack was injured. That’s what you need for a club like Rangers, to have two good players in each position. So that’s what we’re looking for also now, to get some players back.”
Dessers thought he’d stolen the show at the Theatre of Dreams as he slammed Gers level two minutes from time. But it was Gers who fell through the stage trapdoor when they allowed Bruno Fernandes to snatch the hero’s role four minutes later.
That Fergie-time blow was a gut-wrencher. But Clement was delighted the Nigerian international’s equally-impressive strike against Goodwin’s team count for something as it sealed the win.
The Rangers boss – who had early watched Mohamed Diomande and Robin Propper strike to rule out Sam Dalby’s opener – said: “Yes, of course, I’m happy for Cyriel.
“You saw the reaction after the game in Man U. I spoke before the game with them, that those are the moments you can become heroes.
“I think Cyril felt it that way, scoring the 1-1 having waited already a few weeks to get chances or more minutes. So that’s normal, but he kept on working hard and with the right mentality. That’s why I started him also today with Hamza Igamane, because he deserved it and he took also the moment.”
Clement was again down to the bare bones with an entire team of first-team figures ruled out. But Gers refused to let their huge injury issues hold them back as they rallied from Dalby’s goal to record just a fourth win on the road this Premiership season.
They had to ride their luck, with United twice hitting the woodwork. Clement, though, was delighted with his team’s attitude.
He said: “Yes, it was a really good second-half performance. The first half it was a 50-50 game. I think everybody enjoyed the game.
“Two teams going full, with a lot of energy, with a lot of power, with a lot of duels. All credit also to Dundee United, what they’ve been doing, and what they did also today. What they’ve been doing all this month, they deserve to be in third place, clearly.
“So we knew it was a hard place to come, to get this away victory, but my players digged in. In the second half they stepped up, with more quality on the ball also than we had in the first half, and scoring three really good goals, and getting also a few other really good chances.
“We also shot a few times in our own foot in these away games by making mistakes and giving confidence to the other teams. Today also you can see the goal on the throw-in where I’m not happy about, but we didn’t rush anymore. We sticked to the plan, we kept on playing our football, and we found the solutions.
“So the team is making progression. They’re learning out of the mistakes of the past, and that’s normal with a team who needs to grow, and with a lot of players who were not playing together last season, or were not in the building last season.”
Clement is now waiting for news on Vaclav Cerny, Connor Barron, Leon Balogun and Ridvan Yilmaz after they all picked up knocks at Old Trafford. He said: “We wanted to make scans on Friday, but because of the storm we couldn’t do it. So there will be better assessments tomorrow.”