Rangers were spared the embarrassment Celtic suffered in the Tennents Scottish Cup by edging past the First Division side at Love Street.

Craig Moore got the winner in the 50th minute to steer them into the quarter-finals and keep alive their hopes of retaining the Cup.

Turkey midfielder Tugay Kerimoglu made his first start for Rangers. He was given his chance after appearing as a substitute in recent matches following his £1.4m move from Galatasaray.

Rangers went into the game on the back of two draws in the Premier League against St Johnstone and Hibs.

Manager Dick Advocaat had stressed he was looking for an improvement and told his players in no uncertain terms he wanted them to find their hunger again.

He recalled striker Marco Negri, who last featured in the squad back in April 1998.

The players seemed to take Advocaat's message to heart with a lively first half show that should have yielded a few goals.

Andrei Kanchelskis was at the heart of every move in that opening spell and Morton found him difficult to pin down.

The Russian winger picked out Gordon Durie in the sixth minute and he nodded the ball into the path of Rod Wallace.

He took one touch and blasted a fierce 20-yard shot inches wide of the target.

Neil McCann saw a header blocked and minutes later Wallace sent an overhead kick into the crowd.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst should have put Rangers ahead in the 27th minute but he sent a glancing header wide of the post after Tugay and Tony Vidmar had linked up.

Morton were growing in confidence as half time approached and were beginning to win the 50-50 balls.

However Rangers looked dangerous every time they broke forward, although they were over-elaborate at times with their passing.

Kanchelskis was getting a lot of room down the right flank and was sending over a steady stream of good crosses.

Wallace was off-target with a header in the 37th minute and three minutes later McCann sent the ball into the crowd.

McCann's finishing was wasteful again as half-time approached with the Rangers supporters howling their disapproval of their first-half show.

However their mood soon changed with Morton finally caving in after 50 minutes.

Wallace peeled away from his marker to get on the end of McCann's fine delivery.

The ball came back off the inside of the post with defender Craig Moore getting the final touch.

It had been a long time coming and minutes earlier keeper Ally Maxwell had reacted superbly to beat away a Wallace header with McCann supplying the opening.

McCann was beginning to make an impact and Durie was off target when he got on the end of his team-mate's cross.

Then Morton's John Anderson made a timely interception to steer clear a free-kick from van Bronckhorst as Arthur Numan raced forward.

Italian striker Negri was handed his chance in the 77th minute, replacing Gordon Durie.

Negri looked busy and purposeful but was unable to help Rangers extend their lead.

Rangers were always in command with Morton forcing their first corner with five minutes to go.

But their inability to extend their lead infuriated their fans, who voiced their impatience at the end in no uncertain terms.

Teams

Greenock Morton: Maxwell, Murie, D. Anderson, Millen, Morrison, Pluck, Earnshaw (Slavin 76), J. Anderson (Aitken 68), Matheson, Curran, McDonald (Wright 60).

Rangers: Klos, Moore, Numan, Ferguson, Kanchelskis, Van Bronckhorst, Wallace, Vidmar, McCann (Albertz 76),Durie (Negri 76), Tugay.

Subs Not Used: Wilson.

Booked: Tugay.

Goals: Moore 50.

Att: 8,600

Ref: Willie Young (Scotland).