Jamie Robson was the Dundee United hero - as his glory goal ended the 40 game unbeaten Premiership run of Rangers.
The full-back netted the only goal of the game to get Tam Court’s league rein at Tannadice off to winning ways.
It saw the Tangerines become the first team to topple the champions since Hamilton Accies back in March 2020.
Robson is a transfer target for Lincoln City and Sunderland but to United fans his goal - his first since 2017 - was simply priceless.
Courts had come under fire for the opening day loss at Aberdeen but yesterday he delivered United first league win over Rangers since 2012.
Steven Gerrard’s side were poor and their form this season has to be a major concern.
They lost to Malmo and now to United and they look a shadow of the side that won the league without losing a game last season.
If they don’t up their game on Tuesday then they could be staring at a costly Champions League exit.
Dundee United had lost their opening league encounter at Aberdeen and were keen to bounce back in front of a noisy home-only support.
Rangers put out a strong side and it was clear that all focus was on United, with Alfredo Morelos, Joe Aribo and Glen Kamara in the starting XI.
United came out the blocks and were a different side from the previous week.
They were up and at it and the pace and movement of Peter Pawlett, Logan Chalmers and Nicky Clark caused Rangers problems.
United for all their good play didn’t really force Jon McLaughlin into much action although he had to gather Chalmers’ cross that had just eluded a diving Pawlett.
The Light Blues looked leggy and off the pace, in much the same way as they had been in Sweden.
He had a couple of early shots. The first Charlie Mulgrew blocked and then Joe Aribo teed him up again but he fired wide.
The Rangers frontman then got himself on the end of Ryan Kent’s cross but couldn’t direct it towards goal and his next header was straight at Benjamin Siegrist.
He then caused the United defence concern when he got away although Charlie Mulgrew was eventually booked for a pull. Gerrard asked the fourth official, possibly, asking if it could have been a red?
James Tavernier curled the free kick just wide.
There was blow for United after the restart when the impressive Chalmers had to limp off and be replaced by Adrian Sporle.
Rangers upped their game and Siegrist did well to push away Tavernier’s shot.
United looked to be too deep but the ball broke to perfection in the 65th minute.
Robson won the ball and fed Sporle. The full-back then ran on and Sporle played it through, with the aid of a deflection off Steven Davis, for Robson to charge into the box and stab it home.
Alf returns
The Colombian international was finally back in a Rangers strip. It would have been a welcome relief to Gerrard and everybody connected with the Scottish champions.
Morelos missed the opener against Livingston and the Champions League clash with Malmo because he had to self-isolate on his return from Copa America duty.
It meant he only had days off before he had to return to Scotland and self-isolate, so it meant he should have been well up in terms of his match sharpness.
The one thing about Morelos is that he gets into positions and gets chances and that was the case in this game.
He did, however, look to run out of gas in the final stages and was replaced by Jermain Defoe.
No Shanks, no problem
Is this a glimpse into the future for Dundee United? The Scottish international is a target for Belgian side Beerschot. They have opened talks with United and a deal appears to be edging closer.
The Tannadice frontman missed this game with a minor hip injury.
United know Shankland is unlikely to sign a new deal and they will probably need to sell him in this window if they are to maximise any transfer fee.
Shankland is a fans’ favourite at United but knows he can’t have another season, in terms of goals, like he did in the last campaign. It effectively cost him his place in the Scotland squad and his Euro 2020 dream.
The irony is that United are in talks to bring Marc McNulty on-loan from Reading again. He would be a ready-made replacement for Shankland, although they did play together last season. United struggled to be expressive and expansive at the top end of the table last season but under Tam Courts, it is something he is looking to address.
The signing of Finnish international winger Ilmari Niskanen from Ingolstadt is a step in the right direction. Heis set to complete his switch subject to a work permit. Shankland and his fellow strikers were badly starved of service last season, as Micky Mellon decided he was going to make his team hard to beat. Not that they needed him today.
Rangers have crowd trouble
If this afternoon is anything to go by then it could be an issue. A United-only support was their side’s 12th man and the champions struggled to get up for this game. They won the league last season playing the majority of the campaign without fans. That took the pressure off their players in a lot of the games last season. On the flip side, there is no doubt a full Ibrox would also have helped Rangers. Hopefully, now full crowds will be back.
It will be interesting to see if that brings additional pressure, now they are the team everybody is looking to bring down.
