Rangers effectively did their night's work via two goals in three first half minutes to make short work of reaching the Scottish Cup quarter-finals at Motherwell's expense.

Jorg Albertz and Gordon Durie struck after 37 and 39 minutes respectively, but that flurry aside it proved another often frustrating match for the Ibrox faithful.

The periods both preceding and following the goals were uninspiring at best, with an effective stalemate until Albertz added a second with just three minutes remaining.

By completing his double after slotting in a pass from Stuart McCall, the German put a finishing gloss on the scoreline Rangers hardly deserved after lacking creativity for much of the game.

That it hardly mattered, was chiefly due to Motherwell's marked lack of ambition, a reluctance to put Rangers under pressure which made the outcome a formality.

The first tie at Fir Park had been a tight, fraught affair ending 2-2, but such parity never looked like being repeated and with greater urgency Rangers' victory would have been more emphatic.

England midfielder Paul Gascoigne was forced to settle for a place on the bench after Rangers manager Walter Smith surprisingly opted to start with Ian Ferguson and the pair were only swapped late on.

Chilean striker Seb Rozental was also among the substitutes after proving his fitness in recent reserve outings following long-term knee damage, but he only appeared in the 87th minute.

Craig Moore was preferred to Gordan Petric as the replacement for the suspended Sergio Porrini in defence, while for Motherwell Shaun McSkimming replaced the injured Dougie Arnott.

Motherwell were offered a clear chance for a 14th minute lead when Richard Gough lost his concentration and badly underhit an intended back pass.

The ball was played neatly into the path of visiting forward Owen Coyle, but through on keeper Andy Goram, he tried to place his shot and the Scotland man stood his ground well to block.

The moment it happened there was the sense Motherwell might pay for spurning the gift, but for much of a sterile opening half there was difficult to see quite how.

Not for the first time this season, Rangers were looking devoid of invention with a spate of offsides making for an uneven half, but there was to be a sting in the tale.

After Durie had twice been denied penalty claims, the first for handball against Kevin Christie, the second, more justifiable, for a clumsy challenge by Brian Martin, the deadlock seemed secure.

But in the 37th minute, a quiet Marco Negri won possession well on the edge of the area to play the ball back to Ferguson.

His stylish chip picked out Albertz wide on the left and without his customary hesitation the German fired a first-time volley which surprised Stevie Woods at his near post.

Albertz then turned from scorer to creator with a second Rangers goal just two minutes later, collecting the ball inside his own half before releasing Durie.

The pass was ideally weighted for the Scotland international to race on and slip the ball low past the advancing Woods and give Rangers a position of real strength at the interval.

Durie came close to putting Rangers three ahead after 57 minutes as he almost latched on to header inside the box by Gough, but Woods was alert to the danger.

A fine charging run by Laudrup looked to up the tempo after 65 minutes, but Negri was unable to convert the final ball as Woods gathered bravely at his feet.

Eric Garcin brought down Barry Ferguson at the edge of the area two minutes later, but Laudrup sent the resulting free kick well over the bar.

After 80 minutes, Durie unleashed a powerful 20-yard drive which cleared the crossbar by inches with Woods beaten as Rangers aimed to complete their task in style.

This was duly achieved in the 87th minute, when Albertz found time and space to fire a second past Woods and guarantee a last eight meeting with Dundee.

Teams

Rangers: Goram, Cleland, Albertz, Gough, Moore, Bjorklund, B. Ferguson (McCall 79), I. Ferguson (Gascoigne 84), Negri, Durie, Laudrup (Rozental 87).

Booked: Gough, Durie.

Goals: Albertz 36, Durie 38, Albertz 86.

Motherwell: Woods, May, McMillan, Newman, Martin, Falconer, Christie (Valikarri 72), Garcin, Coyne, McSkimming (McCulloch 68), Coyle.

Subs Not Used: Ross.

Booked: Christie, Garcin.

Att: 42,043

Ref: M McCurry (Glasgow).