Rangers star stakes claim in first XI battle but last supper served up for some in easy Scottish Cup win

Striker Miovski was given a start ahead of Youssef Chermiti as Rangers’ No 9 as he did his cause no harm at all with a treble (12, 32, 78). Kieran Dowell (48) and Thelo Aasgaard (88) also got in on the act to inflict a heavy defeat on the League Two side.

The Galabank minnows left Ibrox shell-shocked in 2013 when they handed Rangers their first home defeat of the Scottish Third Division season, triumphing 2-1. It remains one of their most humiliating results in history, when then CEO Charles Green described the players as “probably the worst Rangers team ever” in the aftermath of the game. Those who witnessed the early weeks of the current campaign may have jokingly begged to differ.

Had this game taken place at the beginning of the campaign, amid the backdrop of their nightmarish start to the season under former head coach Russell Martin, the visit part-timers Annan may have brought some supporters out in a cold sweat. However, under his successor Danny Rohl, this convincing win felt like more of a box-ticking exercise than a reason to panic. While the league remains the priority, there’s ample opportunity to win a domestic double. Once Rangers bagged the opening goal, there was no looking back.

The pre-match unveiling of new signings Andreas Skov Olsen, Tuur Rommens and Tochi Chukwuani meant the game felt much like the last supper for some in the starting XI. Many of those who underwhelmed in the opening months of the campaign were given a chance to put themselves in the shop window. Linked with exits this month, Joe Rothwell, Clinton Nsiala, Findlay Curtis, Max Aarons and Dowell were handed rare starts in Rohl’s team.

It didn’t take long for Rangers to take the lead, with Miovski firing home from just inside the area with their first real sight of goal, before he added another with a close-range header after being teed up by Findlay Curtis. The teenage winger then almost grabbed one himself when his cheeky lob pinged off the bar just before the break.

Three minutes into the second half, Dowell connected to Rothwell’s cross to nod home Rangers’ third in what is likely to be one of the duo’s final acts for Rangers. Miovski then completed his first hat-trick in Scottish football when he sent Annan keeper Charlie Albinson the wrong way from the penalty spot, before substitute Aasgaard thumped home a stunning free-kick from distance to complete the scoring.

The Norwegian’s strike capped off a straightforward night for Rangers, and while the win won’t exorcise the demons of the last Scottish Cup tie to take place at Ibrox, a 2-1 humbling by Queen’s Park, it was further evidence of how well-oiled the squad has become under Rohl.

Much sterner tests await next week, with the visit of Ludogorets Razgrad in the Europa League and then a Premiership match against Dundee.

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