Scottish Cup
March 14, 2010
Rangers
3 - 3
Dundee United
Scottish Cup
12:05 GMT, March 14, 2010
Ibrox Stadium, Scotland
Referee: Douglas McDonald
Tangerines hit back to stun Rangers
Scoring Summary
| Rangers | Dundee United |
|---|---|
| Kris Boyd (pen 34') | Andis Shala (24') |
| Kris Boyd (pen 43') | Steven Whittaker (og 63') |
| Nacho Novo (48') | Michael Kovacevic (80') |
Teams
| Rangers | Dundee United |
|---|---|
| 1 Allan McGregor | 1 Dusan Pernis |
| 3 David Weir | 5 Darren Dods |
| 16 Steven Whittaker | 2 Sean Dillon |
| 5 Sasa Papac | 18 Garry Kenneth |
| 66 Danny Wilson | 6 Craig Conway |
| 6 Lee McCulloch | 14 Daniel Swanson |
| 8 Kevin Thomson | 16 Morgaro Gomis |
| 7 Steven Davis | 15 Prince Buaben |
| 9 Kris Boyd | 19 Michael Kovacevic |
| 18 Kenny Miller | 9 Jon Daly |
| 10 Nacho Novo | 21 Damian Casalinuovo |
| Substitutes | |
| 25 Neil Alexander | Steve Banks 13 |
| 20 DaMarcus Beasley | Keith Watson 27 |
| 2 Maurice Edu | David Robertson 12 |
| 27 Kyle Lafferty | Francisco Sandaza 11 |
| 48 Andrew Little | Andis Shala 20 |
| Substitutions | |
| Kyle Lafferty for Kris Boyd (70) | Andis Shala for Damian Casalinuovo (3) |
| Maurice Edu for Kevin Thomson (74) | David Robertson for Daniel Swanson (53) |
| DaMarcus Beasley for Nacho Novo (85) | Francisco Sandaza for Morgaro Gomis (76) |
| Yellow Cards | |
| Lee McCulloch (90) | Dusan Pernis (33) |
| Sean Dillon (44) | |
| Darren Dods (90) | |
| · Squads: Rangers | Dundee United | |
A late equaliser from Mihael Kovacevic earned Dundee United a dramatic 3-3 draw against Rangers and forced their Active Nation Scottish Cup quarter-final to a replay.
• MCoist: Bougherra out for three weeks
United took the lead through substitute Andis Shala but Rangers appeared to be cruising towards the last four when Kris Boyd grabbed a double from the penalty spot and Nacho Novo netted a third for the holders.
But the Tangerines - who were battered 7-1 in their last visit to Ibrox - were thrown a lifeline thanks to a Steven Whittaker own-goal, before Kovacevic levelled late on.
Rangers headed into the tie without Madjid Bougherra after he failed to recover from injury in time, while Novo replaced DaMarcus Beasley.
United were without Andy Webster - who was ineligible under the terms of his loan deal - and the injured Paul Dixon, while David Goodwillie was absent from the squad. Sean Dillon, Darren Dods and Jon Daly were added to the side.
The visitors were forced to make a change almost immediately when Damien Casalinuovo appeared to pull up with just 56 seconds gone and was replaced by Shala with three minutes on the clock.
United goalkeeper Dusan Pernis was called into action to claw a Steven Davis effort away from goal before the ball broke for Whittaker but he failed to add to his 11 goals this season by rifling just over the crossbar.
Rangers continued to pile on the pressure and Kenny Miller whipped an inviting ball into the box for Novo only for the Spaniard to glance his header across goal and narrowly past the upright. Miller then went on a great run only for his weak shot to trickle wide.
The Ibrox side were left rueing those missed opportunities when United surged into the lead after 24 minutes.
Whittaker's slack pass-back had been intended for Danny Wilson but was intercepted by Daly, and he slipped the ball into the path of Shala who fired low under the body of goalkeeper Allan McGregor.
The home side were back on level terms with 34 minutes gone when Miller was fouled by Pernis and referee Dougie McDonald pointed to the penalty spot, before booking the goalkeeper.
Boyd stepped up for the spot-kick and his powerful, low strike left Pernis with no chance as he ended his mini goal drought.
The striker claimed his second of the day - another penalty - two minutes before the break when he dusted himself off to convert after being bundled over by Dillon.
United tried to haul themselves back into the tie after the interval and were not too far away when an opportune strike from Craig Conway bounced off the crossbar on the way over.
But hopes of a comeback were dealt a blow when Rangers claimed their third of the day just three minutes after the restart.
Novo collected a nice pass from Davis before dispatching an angled drive into the bottom corner, with Garry Kenneth's attempts to race back and hook to safety proving to be in vain as he ended up in the back of the net along with the ball.
But United refused to give up and pulled a goal back after 63 minutes when a ferocious volley from Morgaro Gomis took a deflection off Whittaker and whistled past his own goalkeeper.
Rangers were stunned when United drew level with 10 minutes to go. Conway's corner found Francisco Sandaza and his header crashed off the crossbar before Kovacevic nodded home the rebound.
Both teams will do it all again at Tannadice on Wednesday March 24 to determine who will progress to the last four of the tournament, with the holders having required two attempts to overcome both Hamilton and St Mirren in previous rounds.
"He has a small tear on his hamstring and he will be out for a minimum of three weeks,'' said the Rangers number two. "He is one of our top players, one of the top players in the country, so it's a disappointment that he's not able to play for us. But every other team goes through injuries and suspensions and we are no different so we just have to get on with it.''
Danny Wilson looks set to deputise in Bougherra's absence yet again at Hampden next Sunday and McCoist has no concerns about throwing the 18-year-old into the cup final.
He said: "We've not discussed teams or anything like that but Danny's performances would indicate he is ready to play in any game. He has played in big games for us, cup games, Champions League. He has performed well so that won't be a problem.
"Danny Wilson has been a fantastic find for us. He has maybe played a little more this season than maybe a lot of people would have thought and he has been doing very well.''
McCoist insisted: "It's not all doom and gloom - far from it. We are still in the competition and we are the holders. We've got a great record in this cup and the good news is that we are still in it, albeit we face a really tough replay.''
United boss Peter Houston said: "I was disappointed to lose what I thought were two soft penalties. I haven't seen them again and I might be wrong. But I thought the goalkeeper got his foot to the ball for the first one and, for the second one, I thought there could have been a foul on Danny Swanson as we are attacking Rangers, he felt his heels clipped and the ball dropped to Kevin Thomson and the rest is history. Sean Dillon and Kris Boyd come together, Kris goes down and it's a penalty.''
United were thrashed 7-1 the last time they visited Ibrox but Houston - who had recently taken over from Craig Levein at the time - insists he never feared a repeat of that rout today. He said: "When we went down 3-1, a lot of people would have been asking if we had the character to come back from that or would we fold like we did the last time we were here.
"But, under no circumstances did I feel we were going to fold. I mentioned pre-match in the hotel to remember how bad that situation felt in the dressing room afterwards. I just feel there is a determination to win, they are winners and that's why we are in a decent position.''