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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Ben Banks

What the Rangers pundits said as Michael Beale told to look at 'tepid' Ibrox concern despite Dundee United win

It was a three-minute blitz that sealed Rangers victory on Sunday evening as they coasted past Dundee United 2-0.

Celtic's win by the same scoreline against Kilmarnock on Saturday meant they held a 12-point gap at the top of the Premiership. But after a slow first half, goals by Fashion Sakala and Malik Tillman between minutes 54 and 57 ensured that manager Michael Beale has five wins from six matches as Rangers manager.

There were plenty of positives in elements of the performance for the Londoner but he'll be concerned by a fresh knock by Antonio Colak, and again they started slowly before a more energetic second half. All of that, Sakala and more was discussed by the pundits across Sky Sports and BBC Sportsound as another weekend of top flight Scottish football came to a close. Here's what they said after a fine day out at Tannadice for the Ibrox club.

Kris Boyd

"If you look at the stats, Sakala is having a big impact on matches. The system suits him, he's not particularly good with his back to goal, but he's got electric pace and he can get away from people.

"Ryan Kent seems to have a free role but Sakala is tucked in behind the striker. His goal was a great finish, to flick it up with the right and finish with his left.

"He's scoring and assisting goals. He knows how to use his blistering pace."

Andy Walker

"I think Morelos is an important player for Rangers and I don't know what his intentions are. But his contract is up at the end of the season.

"If he stays, he'll get leaner and sharper. I think he had his hunger today, I've seen him fitter, but I think he's an important player.

"He gives them that focal point of attack. If you put Colak at his best and Morelos at his best, Morelos is by far the better player. So it's important to see what his future holds."

Craig Levein

"When they were good, they were really good. I wonder if it's a worry for him (Michael Beale). That first half, it was tepid. There was nothing about their play that got you excited.

"You need to throw in a bit about Dundee United defending really well. But really, this today was more about Rangers reaching the levels they are capable of.

"If they continued in the same way as they did in the first half, I believe Dundee United might have got something from this match. It was very noticeable the uplift in the tempo and that caused the end result here.

Steven Thompson

"At the start of games they haven't started particularly well. It took them 25 minutes in the Old Firm game for them to get going.

"In the Hibs game at Ibrox, it took them a lot longer to get going at Pittodrie. Today, for 45 minutes, it wasn't good enough for what Michael Beale is demanding.

"I think it is a concern. It's a conundrum and it's a problem that he needs to find a way to fix. What he will be pleased is they've found a way each and every time they have come up against adversity, showing fight and steel that was missing previously in games this season."

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