Rangers 1 St Mirren 0:Rangers remained on course for a domestic treble when Kris Boyd grabbed a late winner against St Mirren to send the holders into the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup.
The last round against Hamilton had been decided after extra-time and this replay looked set for a similar outcome before the prolific hitman pounced with just four minutes to go to claim the decisive goal.
Rangers — who will face Saints again in next month’s League Cup final — will take on Dundee United back here at Ibrox as they bid to take another step closer to retaining the silverware.
Rangers dominated early on and were not too far away when Boyd slipped a lovely ball through to Steven Naismith who bore down on goal before drilling across the face of goal and inches wide of the target.
At the other end, Saints had the chance to pile on the pressure when Andy Dorman whipped a corner into the packed goalmouth only for Michael Higdon to nod just wide.
Rangers could have had a penalty a few minutes after the restart when Davis went to ground under pressure from David Barron but no spot-kick was forthcoming from referee Iain Brines.
Seconds later, Boyd had the ball in the back of the net after being teed up for the shot by Novo but the assistant referee had already flagged for offside to the groans of the Ibrox crowd.
Rangers threw Kenny Miller into the action for Nacho Novo with around 20 minutes to go, while Jack Ross — who had picked up a knock earlier in the game — was withdrawn for Stephen O’Donnell.
It was Stephen Davis who could have made the difference when he embarked on an impressive run into the box from the right flank but saw his shot blocked at the near post by the keeper before a Saints defender hooked to safety with Boyd loitering in front of goal.
Boyd had the final say when he netted the winner with four minutes to go. A long ball from Smith was nodded on by Broadfoot and the striker did well to shrug off John Potter before lashing into the back of the net.