Tore Andre Flo rediscovered his goalscoring form to book Rangers a place in
the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup.
The former Chelsea striker had netted just twice in his last 10 appearances
but he grabbed an impressive brace to help ensure a fourth-round win against
Hibernian.
Grant Brebner had cancelled out Flo's opener but a Peter Lovenkrands strike
and Billy Dodds' first goal of the season meant Rangers were never really in
trouble of losing the tie to the Edinburgh side.
Hibernian had not managed to knock Rangers out of the Scottish Cup for over
half a century so the odds were always going to be stacked firmly in favour of
the Ibrox side ahead of this game.
That, coupled with the Easter Road side's disappointing league form, meant
this should have been a particularly tricky tie for Franck Sauzee's men.
But Alex McLeish's legacy at the Edinburgh club appears to live on and they
refused to lie down and admit defeat in the first 45 minutes, despite Rangers
enjoying the best of the possession as well as the chances.
As early as the first minute the home side could have taken the lead when
Fernando Ricksen back-heeled the ball to Shota Arveladze and his shot deflected
off Derek Townsley for the corner.
Lorenzo Amoruso came even closer from Ricksen's flag-kick and saw his header
scrape just over the crossbar.
Flo had missed the previous two games -- against Berwick Rangers and
Dunfermline -- with a stomach bug but, prior to this game, had expressed his
desire to return to the goal trail as soon as possible.
And that's exactly what he did. With 22 minutes on the clock Ricksen squared
the ball across the 18-yard line, Arveladze dummied and Flo was waiting to fire
home the opener.
To Hibs' credit they hauled themselves back to level terms within five minutes
when Ulises de la Cruz met a Mathias Jack cross and nodded the ball into the
path of Brebner. His right-foot shot left goalkeeper Stefan Klos helpless.
Just when it appeared both sides would have to settle for being level heading
into the interval Rangers reclaimed their lead when de Boer squared the ball
across the face of the goal to the waiting Peter Lovenkrands and the young
winger smashed home from just outside the six-yard box.
Rangers could have added to their lead five minutes after the re-start when
Ricksen tried to set up Flo for the header at the near post.
Gary Smith tried to clear the danger but the ball fell to the feet of
Lovenkrands only for Colgan to smother the ball before the Rangers player could
pull the trigger.
Flo was looking dangerous and was causing problems for the Hibs defence again
after 51 minutes.
This time Arveladze cut the ball through the middle but he played the pass too
far and Ian Murray managed to clear before Flo could connect.
Lovenkrands met de Boer's cross out on the left flank after 63 minutes and he
tried to set up Arveladze for the header but Paul Fenwick managed to nod clear.
But Rangers extended their lead a minute later from a Ricksen corner.
Amoruso nodded into the path of Tony Vidmar on the edge of the six-yard box
and he played the ball through to Flo who tapped home from close range.
Arveladze should have put the tie beyond doubt after 74 minutes. Vidmar's pass
was met by Flo and the big Norwegian flicked into the path of the onrushing
Arveladze but he somehow managed to pull the shot past the post.
With just five minutes remaining Rangers booked their place in the
quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup.
Vidmar flighted a cross into the box and Billy Dodds took advantage of a
mix-up between de la Cruz and Smith to ram home the Ibrox side's fourth goal of
the day.
Teams:
Rangers: Klos, Moore, Konterman, Amoruso, Ricksen,
de Boer (Dodds 70), Ferguson, Vidmar, Flo, Arveladze,
Lovenkrands.
Subs Not Used: Christiansen, Caniggia, Ross, Hughes.
Goals: Flo 23, Lovenkrands 45, Flo 65, Dodds 86.
Hibernian: Colgan, Murray, Smith, Fenwick, Laursen, De la Cruz,
Brebner, Jack, Townsley (Arpinon 68), Luna (O'Connor 45),
Hurtado (Riordan 56).
Subs Not Used: Caig, Mark Dempsie.
Booked: De la Cruz.
Goals: Brebner 28.
Att: 25,636
Ref: John Rowbotham (Scotland).
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook