RANGERS secured comfortable passage to the Scottish Cup fourth round with a professional 4-0 defeat of Cove Rangers tonight.
In the first ever meeting of the two sides, first-half goals from Jermain Defoe, twice Kemar Roofe and Nathan Patterson ensured Gers are through to play Celtic in a fortnight with the minimum of fuss.
From the side which played in the Old Firm game at Parkhead a fortnight ago, in came Jon McLaughlin, Patterson, Calvin Bassey, Scott Arfield, Roofe, Defoe and Scott Wright for his first start.
They took the places of Allan McGregor, Leon Balogun, Borna Barisic, Joe Aribo, Ryan Kent, Ianis Hagi and Alfredo Morelos.
Gers’ first chance came inside three minutes. The Cove defence were asleep as McLaughlin picked a long through ball for Scott Wright to run onto, but defender Ross Graham managed to get something on his final effort to deflect it behind for a corner.
Roofe then fired a Patterson ball wide from 15-yards out, while Defoe couldn’t turn home a Wright ball across the face of goal.
Roofe then managed to turn a Davis corner onto the post before finally, Gers persistent knocking on the door blew it off their hinges.
To their credit, Cove were keen to play out from the back as often as possible – but doing just that put them in trouble on 23 minutes.
Glen Kamara turned the ball over and played it onto Defoe, who was fully 25 yards from goal. With white-shirted visiting defenders closing in him, he took the shot on and it was an absolute piledriver, screaming into the bottom corner out of reach of ‘keeper Stuart McKenzie.
That was Defoe’s fifth of the season, and while his strike against Livingston was always going to take a bit of beating, it certainly has some competition now for the best of his campaign. Scott Ross then made a fine tackle to prevent Defoe grabbing another on the end of a Wright cut-back, before the second did arrive on the half hour mark.
Cove just couldn’t live with Rangers’ movement and incision around the area, and while McKenzie saved well from Scott Arfield initially, Kemar Roofe was on the loose ball in a flash to hand Gers a cushion with his 13th of the season and his first of 2021.
And number 14 for Roofe came along just two minutes later. Gers were rampant down the right and Wright’s hard work paid off with an assist for Roofe who rifled home from close range for 3-0.
Wright set up Defoe to get the run on Connor Smith soon after, but after getting his yard for the shot, he dragged it wide.
Number four did arrive on 43 minutes, with Nathan Patterson grabbing his second for the club.
As Cove again tried to play out from the back, Gers’ pressing was phenomenal, with Arfield forcing McKenzie to play a quick one for full-back Adam Livingstone.
He couldn’t bring the ball under control, and breaking his neck to pounce from deep was Patterson, who raced away from the defender and finished with aplomb.
Half-time saw Ianis Hagi replace Steven Davis, with Hagi testing his luck early on with an effort fro 25-yards which went over.
A brilliant through-ball from Connor Goldson put Defoe in, by McKenzie denied him in the one-on-one, before he fired just wide when put in by Wright a minute later.
Rangers were relentless in their attack, and Ross somehow turned the ball behind to prevent a queue of Roofe and Defoe turning home another Wright ball.
Defoe then chipped an effort just wide of the left-hand post, while Wright shot wide of the same upright and then Scott Arfield lifted a strike over the bar.
Sub Cedric Itten almost grabbed the fifth in injury-time, but 4-0 was how it was to finish for the Light Blues, who host Hibs back here next Sunday when the post-split Premiership fixtures begin.
RANGERS: McLaughlin, Patterson, Goldson, Helander, Bassey, Arfield, Davis (Hagi, 45), Kamara, Roofe (Itten, 62), Wright, Defoe (Stewart, 73).
SUBS NOT USED: McGregor, Simpson, Kent, Aribo, Morelos, Balogun.
COVE RANGERS: McKenzie, Scully, Ross, Watson, Megginson, Masson, Higgins, Livingstone, Graham, Smith, Fyvie.
SUBS: Strachan, Yule, McIntosh, McAllister, Ross, Demus, Logan,, Ngwenya, Hanratty.
REFEREE: Kevin Clancy