LFC CHRISTMAS GIFTS

UP THE REDS!

Liverpool loanee thrashed 5-0 as traffic, pyro & fire alarms delay full-time by HOUR

It was a miserable night for Liverpool loanee Owen Beck on Wednesday, with full-time delayed by over an hour as Dundee were thrashed 5-0 by Rangers.

Liverpool felt the force of Storm Ciaran in their 2-1 victory over Bournemouth in the League Cup, but 522 miles away in Dundee it was a different story.

The Scottish Premiership match between Dundee and Rangers was given the all-clear to go ahead despite heavy rains, with the pitch at Dens Park passed as playable before kickoff.

But with traffic at a standstill in the city due to a two-car crash and existing roadworks, the Rangers bus was stuck unable to reach the stadium.

Kickoff was delayed by 45 minutes, meaning the original start time of 7.45pm was pushed back to 8.30pm, allowing Philippe Clement’s side time to prepare.

The fixture eventually got underway at 8.32pm, but two minutes in, pyrotechnics in the away end prompted the fire alarms to go off, leading to another delay.

A multitude of red flares lit up in the Bob Shankly stand, filling the stadium with smoke, with police instructing referee Kevin Clancy to halt the game and lead the players off the pitch while safety checks were carried out.

Around 10 minutes passed by before the game got back underway, with Rangers scoring their first of five unanswered goals soon after.

Ryan Jack, Danilo, Sam Lammers, Cyriel Dessers and James Tavernier all netted for the visitors, with Liverpool loanee Beck playing the full 90 minutes for Dundee on the left wing.

The 21-year-old, who was recently called up to the Wales senior squad for the first time, created the most chances for Dundee (two) and made the joint-most defensive actions (11).

It could have been considerably worse for Dundee, with FotMob revealing that Rangers missed six big chances, having fired an incredible 32 shots on goal.

2REA1Y1 26th July 2023; Dens Park, Dundee, Scotland: Scottish Viaplay Cup Group E Football, Dundee versus Dumbarton; Owen Beck of Dundee during the warm up before the match

Full-time was blown at 10.42pm, a full two hours and 10 minutes after kickoff and almost three hours after the original start time.

“It was a bizarre night and at one stage I thought the game wasn’t going to go ahead,” Dundee manager Tony Docherty told The Scotsman.

“I was trying to keep the boys focused. Then we start the game and because of the pyros we get brought in again.”

Docherty added: “The game was almost abandoned.

“The police took control and I didn’t think we were going to go back out again. That affects focus.

“When [flares in the stands are] almost causing matches to be abandoned I think we need to address it.”