Rovers headed to Ibrox with a number of players missing, Skipper Scott Brown, Jamie Gullan and Ross Millen were injured and Scott McGill and Willy Akio were cup tied while Kieran Ngwenya was on International duty with Malawi.
Ian Murray knew his side had a tough task ahead of them but Rovers came close to taking an early and unlikely lead.
There was just over a minute gone when Goldson’s slack pass was intercepted in the centre circle by Isma Goncalves and his audacious lobbed shot looked to be heading for the back of the net but it swerved just wide, with ‘keeper Allan McGregor out of his goal.
Rovers retreated into their own penalty area and asked Rangers to break them down.
In the 10th minute, Rovers ‘keeper Jamie MacDonald made a fine save at his near post from James Tavernier’s drive after the Gers captain had played a one-two with Lundstram.
Jamie MacDonald saves from Tavernier
As their side toiled, Gers fans became increasingly frustrated at their sides failure to break down the Rovers defence.
However, the breakthrough came just before the break when Goldson leapt at the back post to bullet in a header from Barisic’s delivery.
Rovers were unfortunate to go into the break a goal down after some resolute defending especially from Tom Lang who got his head to almost every ball Rangers threw into the box.
Lewis Vaughan was introduced after the break replacing Connor McBride but Rangers kept going and added a second just before the hour-mark when the luckless Ryan Nolan’s attempted clearance from a Tavernier cross ended up flying high into the net past MacDonald.
Lewis Vaughan replaced Connor McBride after the break
Rovers began to tire as the Ibrox side pinned them back although they came close when Aidan Connolly’s cross from the left was missed by Goncalves at the back post.
Rangers made a triple substitution bringing on Yilmaz, Souttar and Arfield for Goldson, Barisic and Fashion Sakala before McGregor foiled substitute Ethan Ross, who had replaced Goncalves.
Jamie MacDonald denied Arfield at his near post, diving to block a drive, and it became a case of Rovers trying to prevent the scoreline from being stretched.
Adam Masson, who had done a first class job as stand in for the injured Ross Millen along side Tom Lang and Liam Dick at the back, was replaced by Greig Young.
In the 87th minute Arfield put the game to bed when he took a pass from Todd Cantwell and knocked the ball past MacDonald to complete the scoring.
McGregor, Tavernier, Lundstram, Goldson, Colak, Cantwell, Kent, Davies, Sakala, Barisic, Raskin. Subs: McLaughlin, Yilmaz, Hagi, Jack, Souttar, Kamara, Morelos, Wright, Arfield
Raith Rovers
MacDonald, Dick, Nolan, Spencer, Connolly, McBride, Lang, Stanton, Easton, Masson, Gonçalves. Subs: Thomson, Vaughan, Mahady, Ross, Young
Ian Murray spoke to RaithTV after today’s game at Ibrox in the Scottish Cup Quarter Final:
Greig Young and Adam Masson spoke to RaithTV after today’s game at Ibrox in the Scottish Cup, and they were joined by former striker Christian Nade:
Raith Rovers will put league business to one side this weekend, when they travel to Ibrox on Sunday, to face Rangers in the quarter finals of the Scottish Cup.
It’s the first time Rovers have participated in this stage of the competition since the 2014/15 season, when they lost 1-0 to Inverness Caledonian Thistle who went on to win the trophy.
Coincidentally, they defeated Rangers at Ibrox in the last 16 of that tournament, with goals from Ryan Conroy and Christian Nade sealing a deserved 2-1 win.
If Rovers can pull off an upset, it’ll be the first time they’ve reached the last four since 2010, when they lost 2-0 to Dundee United at Hampden, with the Tayside club going on to defeat Ross County in the final.
While Rovers are without a win in this fixture in the last six meetings, they did draw with Rangers the last time they met at Stark’s Park back in 2016, in one of the most pulsating encounters the Stadium has seen in recent years.
Louis Longridge had fired Rovers in front in the 25th minute, only for Harry Forrester to equalise five minutes later. Michael O’Halloran then made it 2-1 to the visitors in the 35th minute, but that lead was also cut short, when James Craigen scored three minutes later.
Kenny Miller made it 3-2 to Rangers just after the interval, but Rovers were given the chance to equalise from the spot in injury time, only for Wes Foderingham to save Harry Panayiotou’s penalty, which was a signal for a large amount of Rangers fans to make their way down to the front of the stand in preparation to invade the pitch to celebrate winning the Championship, and returning to the top tier.
Seconds later however, they were heading the other way to the exits, after Panayiotou equalised from close range to earn Rovers a share of the spoils.
Aside from the 2-1 win at Ibrox, Rovers other win in recent cup history was the 2014 Challenge Cup final, with John Baird’s goal winning the cup in extra-time, on a memorable day at Easter Road.
Rangers have disposed of St Johnstone and Partick Thistle to reach this stage of the competition, while Rovers have come out on top against Auchinleck Talbot, Linlithgow Rose and Motherwell to reach the last eight.
Sunday’s match referee will be John Beaton.
Head-To-Head Record
Rangers wins: 80
Raith Rovers wins: 16
Draws: 16