Rangers 2 Dundee United 0: Malik Tillman underpins ongoing transfer talk with stunning double

THE sponsors voted Allan McGregor as the best player on the pitch.

But it was really just a till man of the game.

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Rangers’ No. 1 made his 500th appearance for the Ibrox Club.

But Greegsy could play 500 more and still not have an easier afternoon.

Malik Tillman made sure of that with two superb goals on a day that drove Michael Beale’s side to Premiership victory.

It was a Saturday stroll ahead of next week’s clash between Old Firm and Celtic which is sure to be much, much tougher.

Tillman, 20, stood out as he showed yet again why Beale wants to keep him beyond this season when his loan deal with Bayern Munich expires.

Dundee United were wiped out by their two goals on either side of half-time while relegation problems continue.

They lost seven games on spin from late January to early March.

Jim Goodwin stopped the rot with some very decent draws against Livi and St Mirren before the international break.

But he has a real job of keeping this club in the Premiership this season.

They’re rooted at the bottom of the table for a reason.

Ross County is two points better in eleventh place, with Kilmarnock a further four points ahead.

If United are to stay on top and avoid relegation to the Championship, they need to pull themselves together. And fast.

But Goodwin wouldn’t have taken the job if he didn’t think he could save her.

Remember, it’s not just the club’s future at stake here. It is his.

He started the season as Aberdeen manager with high hopes and ambitions to take his own career to the next level.

Now it’s about rebuilding his reputation after his release from Pittodrie and proving his doubters wrong.

Getting something out of this game was always a big challenge.

Goodwin hasn’t made the same mistake he made when he came here with Aberdeen in October and really dabbled alongside Giovanni Van Bronckhorst.

Instead, United have been set to frustrate Rangers – with men behind the ball at all times – and only attack at the break.

It wasn’t a great spectacle, but it would never take her anywhere to go head-to-head with Rangers.

Goodwin’s side slowed the game whenever they could and did what they could to keep the home support steady.

After half an hour, the United boss would have been more than happy with the way things were going.

Rangers skipper James Tavernier made a decent save from keeper Mark Birighitti.

But United also had a chance to score themselves when Peter Pawlett rushed forward from midfield.

He had an opportunity to get a shot away but for some reason he tried to single out Steven Fletcher with a pass.

It was the wrong choice and the opportunity was missed.

Pawlett soon trotted off the field after coming up with an apparent hamstring injury.

In another example of what Goodwin is dealing with, the substitute he used in place of the experienced midfielder was 19-year-old Kai Fotheringham, a teenager who played in the second half of the season with Stirling Albion.

The boy gave everything he had and can hold his head high for the shift he put in.

But losing Pawlett wasn’t what United needed and if he’s to miss games in the coming weeks that’s another huge blow.

In the process, United had another near miss in 35 minutes when Craig Sibbald sliced ​​in from the left and drilled in a shot that didn’t miss much.

Rangers just never panicked.

Their fans showed signs of losing patience while it was still scoreless. But Beale’s men kept moving and moving, and eventually their perseverance paid off.

With 38 minutes left, Connor Goldson hissed a ball into Todd Cantwell on the edge of the United box and he played a nice little flick pass into Tillman’s path.

The loaned Bayern Munich star did the rest with a clean finish against Birighitti.

It was a brilliantly crafted goal that saw Goodwin’s defense thwarted by some really clever play.

Things could have gone better for the Rangers at the break too.

In added time at the end of the first half, Ryan Kent hit the crossbar with a magnificent long-range shot.

But ten minutes after the restart, Rangers had secured the point to make it 2-0.

Tavernier played a ball into the box, Kent threw it in Tillman’s way and as the United defense backed down he calmed down before firing past Birighitti.

United had nothing left to give in an offensive sense after that as Rangers looked for more.

Tillman nearly clinched a hat-trick with a shot saved by Tavernier after a Tillman cutback just before the 3-0.

Beale then made a tactical change, knocking out Skipper Tav and going to a back three for the final 15 minutes.

It was clearly just an opportunity for him to try something different.

There was a little pause in the final minutes for a VAR review of a possible handball in the United box but referee Don Robertson was eventually told there was nothing in it.

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