Rangers kept a grip on their Scottish Cup trophy but it was under severe threat at times on a night of incredible drama as they edged an incident-packed five-goal thriller against Partick Thistle at Ibrox.
Jags skipper Kevin Holt fired the second tier side into a shock lead from the spot after a hugely controversial penalty - the first Gers have conceded this season - before Antonio Colak, penalised for the handball that led to the spot kick, levelled. James Tavernier then missed a penalty before Malik Tillman scored a controversial goal as he pounced to steal possession when Jags planned on giving the ball back to Rangers.
Michael Beale ordered his players to let the visitors score a goal unopposed, with Scott Tiffoney netting to level it but Connor McAvoy's own goal settled an enthralling tie. Beale has maintained his unbeaten record as Gers boss but it was a real scare for him and a below par display. Nicolas Raskin was handed his first start and Ianis Hagi his first in over a year in two of seven changes from the XI that started the win over Ross County in the Scottish Premiership.
After suffering successive home defeats to the bottom two sides in the Championship, ex-Ger Ian McCall needed a drastic improvement in performance if they were to have any chance of causing a seismic Scottish Cup shock. And the Jags, backed by a healthy travelling contingent of more than 2000, made a solid start and it was a much closer contest than the odds of nearly 30/1 for the visitors and the 15 places between them in Scottish football suggested.
It took until midway through the first half for any real chance to be created for either side. Todd Cantwell threw a ball into the box and Hagi got free in the box but sent his header wide of target. Moments later Scott Tiffoney flashed an angled shot just over.
The visitors grew in confidence and Allan McGregor twice had to come to Gers rescue around the half hour mark. The first came when he threw himself to his left to paw away a free kick from the excellent Kyle Turner before denying Tiffoney after good play from Brian Graham to set him up.
But then game the huge moment of the first half as Thistle were awarded a penalty. It came after referee David Munro was referred to the monitor by VAR Steven Kirkland after the ball was headed off Antonio Colak’s arm as a cross came in.
It looked harsh with the Croat in mid-flight as the ball came at him at pace but the visitors were hardly complaining and up stepped Holt who despatched his effort with real composure beyond the despairing hand of McGregor. The jeers at half-time could have been for the officials or the home players - Rangers had reason to feel aggrieved at the penalty decision but were well below par and the visitors deserved that lead.
Ryan Kent and Kemar Roofe were thrown on in place of Cantwell and Hagi at the break and the new boys combined early on with the former setting up the latter but the striker’s effort was well off target. But the Light Blues had a new sense of urgency about them and did get level seven minutes after the restart. It was great play from Raskin who was tenacious to win the ball in the box and he picked out Colak who send a downward header beyond Jamie Sneddon.
Rangers were expected to kick on after that but Thistle refused to throw the towel in. Brian Graham wasn’t far away at all with a long range effort that almost caught out McGregor.
There was yet more VAR controversy when Gers were awarded a spot kick when Stuart Bannigan brought down Malik Tillman. It looked like the initial contact was outside of the box but Munro’s initial decision stood after a check in Clydesdale House. But justice was done in the eyes of the Jags as Sneddon saved Tavernier’s effort, which was straight down the middle.
Then the game exploded into a mad three-minute spell. Rangers took the lead first of all through Tillman when he pounced on a heavy touch from Holt before running through on goal and slipping the ball past Sneddon.
But Jags were furious as they had been planning to gift possession back to Rangers after it had initially been knocked out of play to allow treatment and there was a melee inside the penalty area.
Beale had a word with skipper Tavernier and the decision was made to allow the visitors to score unopposed as Tiffoney ran clean through and, while McGregor had a bit of fun in jokingly trying to stop him, netted. But Gers had the final say as Borna Barisic's corner came of the unfortunate McAvoy's shoulder and into the net to end an enthralling encounter. Here's three talking points from Ibrox
Superb sportsmanship
Michael Beale deserves credit for ordering his players not to challenge Partick Thistle at the second Jags goal after the controversial manner in which Malik Tillman scored to put his side in front. Given the fact they were in a real battle in this fifth round tie then it would have been easy to accept that lead. But instead he took his chances and wanted to play fair and Ian McCall’s warm handshake told you everything about the gesture.
Plucky Jags
They lost to Cove Rangers last time out but after 45 minutes were dreaming of beating Glasgow Rangers. It’s been that kind of season for Partick Thistle who started the campaign so well but have dropped off in their promotion push. Thy came into this having lost successive league games to the bottom two in the table, Hamilton and Cove Rangers.
But Ian McCall’s men made a real fight of this and it was an enthralling contest at times. Jags hadn’t won at Ibrox in over 40 years and when Kevin Holt netted from the spot the visiting fans were delirious. They couldn’t see it out but they left Govan with plenty of credit for how they performed. Now they must take that into the league.
VARce
This was one of only two Scottish Cup fixtures that had VAR in operation with two ties involving host Scottish Premiership clubs opting not to pay the fee of around £10,000 to put it into use. And it has to be said that furore around the decision to award Partick Thistle a penalty is probably a big reason for clubs deciding against shelling out the cash. Queen of the South boss Marvin Bartley was on duty as a pundit at Ibrox and described David Munro reviewing the Antonio Colak handball on the monitor and still deciding to point to the spot as “mind boggling”. There have been far too many inconsistencies over handball incidents this season and this is another to add
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