Rangers 3-0 Dundee: Giovanni van Bronckhorst praises 'desire' after fourth consecutive win as boss

Giovanni van Bronckhorst praised the "desire" of his Rangers team after they beat Dundee to move seven points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership

Alfredo Morelos poked in the third with 20 minutes remaining.

"Even at 3-0 up we were still looking for the fourth goal, that is the desire we need in games," said the manager.

"I am very happy with the performance and of course, happy with the points."

And it could have been a much more convincing scoreline had it not been for a series of saves by visiting goalkeeper Adam Legzdins.

A fourth consecutive win as Van Bronckhorst means his side again put pressure on Celtic as their second-top city rivals visit the Dundee United on Sunday.

For Dundee, a 14th consecutive defeat at Ibrox leaves them fourth from bottom but having now played a game more than the three sides below.

• Reaction & as it happened

Van Bronckhorst showed a willingness to tweak what he inherited from Steven Gerrard by restraining the forward ambition of Rangers' full-backs in the midweek win over Hibs and now he has a second in a row.

The Dutchman's willingness to make bold decisions was further emphasised by the absence of veteran midfielder Steven Davis and winger Ryan Kent against Dundee.

The key duo apparently rested, Rangers were quickly in their stride against visitors who arrived confident with three wins in four outings under belt after their midweek win over St Johnstone.

Fashion Sakala was the man tasked with filling in for Kent wide on the left and the Zambia striker responded by continually testing the visiting defence with his speed and eye for goal.

Only a lack of composure on one occasion and a flying Legzdins save denied him before midfielder Aribo made room for himself on the edge of the penalty box and his low drive off the toe of defender Liam Fontaine deceived the Englishman.

Other than a squandered headed chance by Danny Mullen - the striker looking to score for a fourth consecutive game - Dundee had not threatened by the time Aribo benefitted from another rebound off Sweeney 10 minutes after the break.

Morelos had been one of those denied by Legzdins before the striker powered through a sea of legs to side-foot home and, although home goalkeeper Allan McGregor had to make a couple of late saves, Dundee were already well beaten.

Man of the match - Fashion Sakala

Aribo had a hand in the two goals, but it was Sakala who was the driving force as he grabbed his chance to impress after being brought into the Rangers side

What did we learn?

A second clean sheet in a row - after a first in eight games in midweek - suggests Van Bronckhorst has shored up a defence that had been questioned before his arrival, but there were still some shaky moments.

Dundee rely heavily on the influence of veteran Charlie Adam and, when opposition like Rangers press the former Ibrox midfielder out of possession to such an extent that the visiting captain is withdrawn a disappointed and forlorn figure midway through the second half, the writing is on the wall.

However, games against the Old Firm are not where James McPake's side will expect to collect the points needed for survival.

What did they say?

Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst: "We were controlled, which is what you want when you play at home. We created a lot of chances and did not give any chances away.

"We worked hard to get the passing game up, at speed, especially against opponents who are organised and defended really well. You could see that the more minutes we played, the more space we got and we also changed the direction of play quickly and dominated those areas."

Dundee manager James McPake on his and Leigh Griffiths' bookings: "I've not seen the tackle. Then all of a sudden there's a riot about to happen because it's Leigh. Rangers players were coming in from everywhere.

"The fourth official thought I made a comment to him, which I didn't. I made the comment to someone else."

What's next?

Rangers travel for a Europa League group game in Lyon (17:45 GMT) on Thursday before returning to league action away to Hearts the following Sunday, the day before Dundee travel to Dingwall to face Ross County (15:00).