Managerless Rangers' wait for a first home Scottish Premiership win of the season continued after a four-goal thriller with Dundee United ended in a draw at Ibrox.

A fabulous second-half comeback from the visitors had Jim Goodwin's men on the verge of their first win in Govan since 2011, only for Rangers captain James Tavernier to fire home a powerful late equaliser.

That came after two stunning strikes in the second half had completely turned the game on its head, with substitute Kristijan Trapanovski hitting home an equaliser with virtually his first touch of the ball before a terrific hit from Craig Sibbald blasted United in front.

It sent the 900-strong travelling support into raptures and many Rangers fans heading for the exits.

Those who did leave missed a Rangers comeback which rescued a point but wasn't enough to claim all three for interim boss Steven Smith, who was by far the happier manager at the break thanks to a wonderful opening goal from midfielder Thelo Aasgaard.

He cut inside a couple of players before curling in a wonderful opener into the top corner.

A share of the spoils is probably fair enough, given Rangers' strong first-half performance and United's much-improved showing after the interval.

That said, only a wonderful save from home keeper Jack Butland kept Rangers level when Trapanovski threatened a late winner. Substitute Pantuche Camara also blasted just over with almost the last kick of the ball, with large parts of the ground already empty.

A strange end to a match which Rangers started very strongly but then fell out of the longer the game went on.

Rangers simply can't seem to put together a 90-minute performance, no matter who the head coach is.

Several of the home players looked unrecognisable from the men who struggled to make any visible impact for the head coach who signed them.

Aasgaard looked every inch the imposing Norway international, peppering the United goal with shots which twice Yevhen Kucherenko did well to palm away.

His goal was a genuine thing of beauty. Skill, poise and power in equal measure.

It felt like the shackles had been taken off everyone in blue. The problem is, it only lasted a half. Dundee United re-organised, made some changes and blew Rangers away in the second half. Familiar home failings let Rangers down. They're conceding goals too easily with no sign of that stopping.

The Jim Goodwin vintage came within minutes of a famous win. Kucherenko kept them in the game with a couple of top stops in the first half. Goodwin's changes took the side to the precipice of victory.

It very nearly paid off in spades but United will have to content themselves with a hard-earned, full-merited point. Their season won't be defined by results in Glasgow. United will take an awful lot from their performance here, however.

Rangers interim head coach Steven Smith told BBC Scotland: "I think I understand the reasons why [the game changed]. Dundee United changed their aggression, started winning second balls, gained territory.

"That changed the game and we didn't change with it, which is disappointing. We managed to get an equaliser, so I'll give them a wee bit of credit for that.

"But we need to recognise in those moments when it gets tough, you need to have killed the game off or match the level of aggression [from the opposition] to go again."

Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin: "Rangers were by far the better team in first 45, we were second best all over the park. We looked as if we were half a yard off it.

"Second half we carried [the game plan] out a lot better. We have built a really strong, competitive squad.

"Unfortunate thing is we haven't had the whole group available. We're starting to get numbers back and there's real competition.

"We need to make sure we start games like we did in the second half. That's three games in a row where we've been poor in the first half but really good in the second. We can't let first halves pass us by."

Rangers go away to face Brann in the Europa League on Thursday (17:45 BST), while United host St Mirren on league duty on Saturday (15:00).