30.11.2013 19:13 h

Football: Fallen giants Rangers into Scottish Cup last 16

Duell in der Höhe
Duell in der Höhe

Fallen giants Rangers needed two late goals to book their place in the last 16 of the Scottish Cup with a 2-0 victory over ten-man Falkirk on Saturday.

Rangers had the best of the first half chances but lacked a killer touch in front of goal as they failed to get past a stubborn Falkirk defence.

Sixteen of Rangers's last 19 goals have come in the second half and the restart signalled a bombardment of the Falkirk goal with Jon Daly heading an effort over the bar before Lee Wallace fired just wide.

The League One side had a great chance to make the breakthrough when Falkirk were reduced to 10 men in the 57th minute.

David McCracken was shown a straight red card after he clipped the heels of Nicky Clark as he chased down a Daly headed flick-on in the box but Michael McGovern saved Lee McCulloch's penalty with his feet and the Rangers skipper's follow-up was ruled out for offside.

Substitute Fraser Aird smacked the crossbar with a powerful shot seconds after coming on and then saw his deflected strike trundle agonisingly wide of the post as Rangers made their extra man count.

The match looked to be heading to a replay before Nicky Law gave Rangers a deserved lead in the 89th minute lead.

Ian Black's free kick was knocked down by Bilel Mohsni and Law angled a low shot through a ruck of players into the far corner as Rangers scored for the 25th consecutive match.

Mark Millar had a late chance to grab an equaliser for 10-man Falkirk but he blazed his shot high over Cammy Bell's goal before David Templeton sealed the win with a goal two minutes into stoppage time.

Lewis MacLeod threaded a great ball through to Templeton who stroked the ball beyond McGovern as Rangers made it 18 wins in a row to book their place in Monday's draw.

Rangers manager Ally McCoist felt his side deserved to win the game.

"We created an awful lot of opportunities and I was really pleased with the way we continued to play when Falkirk went down to 10 men," McCoist said.

"Obviously with the penalty miss you sometimes wonder if it's going to be your day but I thought we continued to do the right thing and we didn't panic."

His Falkirk counterpart, Gary Holt said: "To a man I thought we were excellent and I'm proud of them. We asked them to go out there and stand up to the test and in the first half we did that," Holt said.

"I asked them for a bit more composure in the second half and to express themselves and when we went down to 10 men I couldn't have asked for any more."

Joining Rangers in the draw will be minnows Albion Rovers, who completed a shock 1-0 win over Premiership side Motherwell.

Gary Phillips' stoppage time strike secured victory for the side who are second bottom of Scotland's fourth tier.

Hibernian progressed to the next round with a 1-0 away to Ross County, Terry Butcher's first win since joining the Easter Road outfit.

Inverness defeated Championship side Morton 4-0, Raith Rovers ruined Dundee's 120th celebrations with a 1-0 win, St Johnstone defeated Livingston 2-0 and St Mirren were held to a 2-2 draw with Queen of the South.

Dundee United defeated Scottish Premiership rivals Kilmarnock 5-2 on Friday night.

Premiership leaders Celtic take on Hearts at Tynecastle on Sunday while Partick Thistle host Aberdeen.