With it being the Youths last home match of the season it was imperative to secure three points to close the gap on leaders Celtic to just one point and crowd of 83 spectators turned up in anticipation.
However, following such a promising start for Rangers the match then got bogged down in midfield as a plucky United side showed good fighting spirit to restrict Rangers scoring opportunities to increase their early lead.
It took United 27 minutes to have their first attempt at goal when Robbie Feeney let fly from 20 yards and his shot had Scot Gallagher scrambling across goal as the ball just past the post.
United were then coming into the ascendency as they used Gregg Burnett to good effect down the right wing and his crosses into the box were causing Rangers defenders problems.
It was Steven Kinniburgh who lead the way for Rangers to come back into the match on 32 minutes, firstly he fought his way through the United defence to the edge of their 18 yard box before being brought down, however Referee Gary Krkwood saw nothing amiss and waved play on. A minute later Kinniburgh picked up the ball on the right and made his way to the bye line before putting a perfect square ball across the face of the United goalmouth where Jason Crooks was waiting to slide in and slot home number two.
Dundee United again tried to come back into the match and David Gray had a thunderous goalbound shot blocked by Martin Ure before it could do any damage on 39 minutes.
A minute before half time it looked as though the hard working Kinniburgh had got the goal his play deserved when his cross into the box was going under the bar only to be caught by the United keeper Charles Samushonga who landed awkwardly on the line amidst cries of "goal" from the home side, however, again the referee ruled in favour of the visitors and waved play on.
Half time - Rangers 2 Dundee United 0
The second half was only 4 minutes old when Brian Gilmour attempted to increase Rangers lead further but his 25 yard free kick went straight into the arms of Samushonga.
Dundee United got a goal back on 55 minutes when a long cross field ball went straight to Kevin Watson on the right just ouside the home 18 yard box, the United defender found himself with both space and time to unleash a powerful angled drive past Gallaghers reach into the keepers right hand corner and bring the visitors right back into the match.
Rangers pulled themselves together to put the pressure back on United and on 61 minutes Stevie Lennons cross was met by Ashikodi, but the forwards effort went wide whilst under pressure from Uniteds defence.
The 64th minute saw the introduction of young starlet John Fleck, replacing William McLachlan, and he was barely on the park for a minute when his dipping shot went narrowly over the bar following the ball breaking to him from a corner.
United tried to carry the game to Rangers at times by counter attacking and such a move led to Gregg Burnett having a chance to equalise but his shot went over on 73 minutes.
This sparked Rangers back into action and 3 minutes later some clever work by John Fleck in the box saw him lay off a perfect pass to Lennon, but the midfileder blasted the ball well over.
A minute later and the industrious Ashikodi saw his goalbound shot blocked by a United defender and the ball again went over the bar.
From the resultant corner kick Brian Gilmours flighted ball found its way to Ashikodi 15 yards out and the forward steadied himself before unleashing another powerful drive, this time through a ruck of tangerine shirts and past the stranded Samushonga to put Rangers 3 -1 ahead.
This now deflated the visitors and Rangers pushed for a fourth to emphasise their superiority against the bottom club, 3 minutes later Stevie Lennon looked suspicously offside as he broke forward down the left and into the box where his shot was saved by Samushonga, but the keeper fialed to turn the ball round the post and a scramble ensued on the goal line before the ball was eventually cleared.
Rangers kept plugging away and two minutes from time Ashikodi just failed to get his hat-trick when he was played into the box, but his shot went narrowly wide.
The match finished on a sour note for United when in the last minute their hard working midfielder Gregg Burnett went down under a challenge from Steven Stirling. The Tannadice youngster landed awkwardly on his ankle and had to be carried off, with United having used their three substitutes already this meant they saw out injury time with only 10 men.
The result leaves Rangers with their faint hopes of the title still intact. The young Light Blues are now one point behind leaders Celtic, but the Bhoys from Barrowfield have two games in hand and Rangers are now faced with their final four matches all away from Murray Park, including a vital Old Firm match, the date and venue of which is still to be confirmed.
RANGERS; Gallagher, Harvey, Ure, Perry, Kinniburgh, Crooks (Watt 86), McLachlan (Fleck 64), Gilmour, Ashikodi, Lennon, Woods (Stirling 72).
Unused Subs - Sagar, Donald
DUNDEE UNITED; Samushonga, Watson, Pope, McGrath, O'Byrne, Burnett, Gray (Paterson 77), O'Hara (Russell 53), Feeney, Andreoni, McAleenan (Fleming 45).
Unused Sub - McMeechan