Rangers coasted to a three-nil win at Ibrox to move within three points of Celtic in the title race following the latter's one-each draw at Aberdeen earlier in the day. The Ibrox men made five changes following the midweek trip to Istanbul.
Mark Brown, Fernando Ricksen, Andrei Kanchelskis, Marco Negri and Jorg Albertz replacing Stefan Klos, Claudio Reyna, Barry Ferguson, Michael Mols and Allan Johnston as Dick Advocaat freshened the team.
United were first to threaten when a David Hannah header drifted wide of goal in the 4th minute but rangers were quick to respond with a Ronald De Boer shot from a Kanchelskis pass blocked by Alan Combe and a 20 yard Albertz effort flashing wide. A flowing move down the left involving Giovanni Van Bronckhorst and Arthur Numan ended with De Boer's shot just wide of the target but the visitors were by no means mere onlookers in the early stages with Craig Easton forcing Mark Brown to block his shot from a Mvondo Atangana pass in 24 minutes.
The opening goal arrived in the 32nd minute when adrei Kanchelskis drove the ball home form a wide angle after his original effort had been blocked by team mate Bert Konterman.
Marco Negri - playing in his first game under Dick Advocaat against the same team he once scored five goals in a single match - had the ball in the net in 39 minutes from a Kanchelskis cross only for the goal to be chopped off for offside.
But if the Italian striker has proved at times to be a touch temperamental he clearly has a "blood brother" in Argentinean Marcelino Gallonrro who twice fell foul of referee John Rowbotham for dissent, being warned for the first before being yellow carded in 40 minutes, as was his colleague Anastasios Ventis two minutes later for a foul on Fernando Ricksen. From the resultant free kick Jorg Albertz powered home a ferocious 20 yard shot from wide on the right for goal number two.
Dundee United were reduced to ten men just before the interval when Craig Easton was ordered off "a straight red card" for a shocking tackle on Van Bronckhorst.
Marco Negri was still looking for his first goal for Rangers in two and a half years and in the opening seconds of the second half he almost found the target found with a flashing shot from a Numan pass.
the traffic was all one-way with both Albertz and Tugay coming close with 25 yard efforts from openings created by Ronald De Boer before a Van Bronckhorst shot from distance was deflected just wide.
Tugay was the midfield orchestrater behind almost every move, and in 65 minutes he embarked on a solo run through the heart of the United defence with his finishing shot from some 30 yards just too high.
The third goal was only delayed however for a further eleven minutes when Van Bronckhorst took possession of a Tugay pass, ran at the United defence and brought the house down with a thundering 25 yard shot.
Four minutes later only a superb save by Alan Combe denied substitute Billy Dodds when he played a one-two with Negri before firing in a 25 yard effort.
Young goalkeeper Mark Brown had spent a comfortable evening mostly as an onlooker but he was called into action in the last minute when he touched an Aljofree 25 yard free kick onto the post.
Ranger manager Dick Advocaat stressed that he thought his team had controlled the game throughout but had hoped more goals than three. Reflecting on Marco Negri he emphasised that it was important to asses the players fitness, explaining his selection ahead of Billy Dodds by pointing out that Negri is a penalty box striker whereas the ex-Dundee United player is more of a second striker but hinted perhaps that Negri does not show the total commitment that Advocaat seeks by adding that he must "show like others in training."
RANGERS - Brown, Ricksen, Konterman, Amoruso (Vidmar 50), Numan, Kanchelskis, Tugay, van Bronckhorst, Albertz (Dodds 69), de Boer (Miller 78), Negri. SUBS NOT USED - Lovenkrands, Smith.
DUNDEE UNITED - Combe, McQuillan, De Vos, McCracken (Licina 16), Leoni, Aljofree, Easton, Hannah (Venetis 31), Galoppo (Thompson 78), Fuentes, Atangana. SUBS NOT USED - Onstad, Marcora.
