Scottish football club, Rangers, has breezed into the Scottish Cup quarter-finals, thrashing Queen’s Park 8-0 to avenge last year’s shock defeat to the team.
Almost exactly 12 months ago, Calum Ferrie was the hero for the Championship side, making save after save and stopping a late penalty from Tavernier in one of the biggest upsets in the history of the tournament.
But on Sunday, James Tavernier hit a first-half hat-trick, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way from the spot after punching a corner from the full-back into his own net, while Tavernier’s first goal was forced home from close range.
Ryan Naderi opened his Rangers account on his first start, and Matty Shiels knocked in an own goal before the interval, both coming from corners.
Naderi helped himself to a second header early in the second half, and Bojan Miovski steered in the seventh on 80 minutes.
Tochi Chukwuani, who flicked on Tavernier’s delivery for the own goal, completed the rout, applying the finish to a neat passing sequence.
Queen’s Park made it through by default after Stranraer were expelled for not following the correct procedure for registering an on-loan goalkeeper in the previous round.
While the reprieve will provide a healthy boost for the club’s coffers, there was little danger of lightning striking twice in such an error-strewn display that will compound the misery of a team sitting at the bottom of the second tier.
The visitors did have the ball in the net at 1-0, but Aidan Connolly was offside by quite a distance, a fleeting moment of joy swiftly doused.
Tavernier’s first career hat-trick helped deliver a ninth successive home win for Rangers and brought his goal tally to 143, along with his 147 assists, those contributions coming over a decade at the club.
Such a comfortable afternoon made for a stark contrast to the roiling angst in the stands a year ago when Seb Drozd struck the winner for Queen’s Park, with Ibrox a much happier place these days.
At 22, Naderi is 12 years younger than his new captain, and fans will be encouraged by the physically imposing striker’s display.
The German was left completely free to nod in the opener from a corner, the ball taking a slight deflection on its way past Ferrie.
He enjoyed lots of room again to double his tally as he met an Oliver Antman cross.
And there could have been an argument about who gets to keep the match-ball had Naderi not knocked a volleyed effort over the top in the first half.
Slipshod defending contributed to the big score, with Danny Rohl’s side feasting on the visitors’ weakness at set-pieces.
Ferrie was under little pressure as he misjudged Tavernier’s curling corner and was badly positioned for Naderi’s second, while the penalty was awarded when an Andreas Skov Olsen shot was stopped by an outstretched hand.
After hammering 10-man Kilmarnock, 13 goals from two outings will lift the positive mood at Rangers further, although much tougher assignments await against in-form Motherwell and Premiership leaders Hearts.
