Dunfermline shock Rangers with victory

Dunfermline 2 Rangers 0

Rangers’ season took another turn for the worse when Paolo Vanoli’s bizarre own goal confirmed that his side would lose a league game to Dunfermline for the first time in 30 years.

Such a result also has a massive impact on the Bank of Scotland Premier League championship as Celtic, who beat Dundee yesterday, have now seen their eight point advantage remain intact.

Rangers are still beset by injury problems, with Zura Khizanishvili the latest casualty, and morale within the first team pool was already at low ebb following Tuesday night’s disastrous European exit at the hands of Panathinaikos.

Dunfermline had not beaten Rangers since a 1988 Scottish Cup game but knew they would not be presented with a better chance – and duly took it.

A fine finish from Scotland striker Stevie Crawford fired them into a fifth minute lead after he was set up by a superb flick-on header by Craig Brewster who, at 37, was the oldest player on the pitch as well as the best on the day.

The pitch itself was also a talking point as Alex McLeish, who finds the start of his third year in charge of Rangers developing into the sort of run that sometimes costs managers their jobs, had already made it clear he was no fan of the artificial surface at East End Park.

McLeish had a ready-made – literally – explanation for the result therefore but hardly an excuse for a sub-standard performance from his side, whose lack of creative confidence was crystal clear.

It took Rangers almost an hour to get a shot on target, a Michael Mols effort from the edge of the box that goalkeeper Derek Stillie was able to get behind comfortably.

And it was not until Mols was replaced in the 72nd minute by Shota Arveladze that the champions showed any threat or urgency.

The Georgian had been put on the bench in the first place on his return from a knee injury as McLeish had feared the surface might aggravate that, and Mikel Arteta’s comeback was postponed altogether.

Arveladze sent Peter Lovenkrands away with a superb ball and then set up Bob Malcolm even closer to goal but saw his less-gifted colleagues waste both opportunities as the minutes ticked away.

A home win, which would have been Dunfermline’s first in the league at Rangers’ expense since 1970, was looking more and more likely and Vanoli confirmed it in the 82nd minute.

The Italian is one of a number of summer signings whose pedigrees have been well and truly questioned since being brought to Ibrox by McLeish.

He was no fans’ favourite at kick-off and damaged that reputation even further with some inexplicably disastrous football that saw him put through his own goal.

Initially he had survived a handballclaim when the ball came to him in the box but after it became clear that referee Alan Freeland was allowing play to continue, the former Parma man reacted by rolling the ball past Stefan Klos, his goalkeeper.

Both men involved in that incident possess winners medals in European competitions with previous clubs but Rangers are on course to add nothing to their silverware collections at the moment.