Philippe Clement insists traffic and pyro delays ‘not ideal’ and it ‘broke’ their rhythm in five-star Dundee win

Rangers endured an eventful night in Tayside - with Philippe Clement’s side delivering an impressive attacking display in a scintillating 5-0 victory over Dundee at Dens Park.

Five different goal scorers got on the scoresheet with Ryan Jack, Danilo, Sam Lammers, Cyriel Dessers and James Tavernier on target during a dominant performance from the Ibrox side.

Traffic congestion in Dundee delayed the arrival of the Rangers team bus which resulted in kick-off being rescheduled for 8.30pm, before the match was halted by referee Kevin Clancy after just TWO minutes when travelling Gers fans set off flares and smokebombs which engulfed the pitch in thick smoke.

The pyrotechic display triggered a fire alarm in the Bob Shankly Stand and meant the match was briefly suspended. However, when play eventually resumed the Light Blues cruised to a commanding win.

Belgian boss Clement admitted the two delays before and during the match “wasn’t ideal” but didn’t use them as an excuse for his side’s sluggish first-half showing.

Speaking to BBC Sportsound post-match, Clement said: “If you score five goals and have other chances as well, plus keeping a clean sheet because Jack (Butland) saved us a few times, then you are really happy after the game.

“I was not so satisfied after our first-half. It was okay because we scored the first goal and didn’t concede anything but our tempo was too low and we were not ambitious enough to get the second goal. Second-half I was much more satisfied with and also players come in from injury played a good game, like Ryan Jack and Leon Balogun.”

He continued “No, that’s not an excuse (delays) - we need to be ready for every situation. Okay, it’s not ideal to come here so late and then also after a few minutes you need to go inside again, but that’s never an excuse.

“It’s not a good thing that we have to step inside and break our rhythm. But I am not the guy to say what fans need to do, but those things are better not done because we want to play football and we want to keep our rhythm.”