Rangers are through to the quarter-finals of the League Cup following a 2-1 win over Partick Thistle at Firhill tonight - a superb strike from Pedro Mendes deciding the tie in the dying minutes of extra-time.
It was a hard-fought cup-tie, with the Cup Holders - as so often last season - making heavy weather of First Division opponents.
Manager Walter Smith made three changes from Sunday with Sasa Papac, Nacho Novo and Jean-Claude Darcheville replacing Christian Dailly, DaMarcus Beasley and Kenny Miller.
Rangers almost made a lightning start in the fourth minute when a Steve Davis - Novo - Darcheville move split the Jags defence, Davis firing in a low twenty-yarder that was inches wide.
Four minutes later Kris Boyd might have done better than shoot straight at Jonny Tuffey from a Davis chip.
The striker was soon forgiven for that weak effort when he opened the scoring in 24 minutes with a quite magnificent left-foot volley into the roof of the net from Davis' hanging cross.
The home side came right back at their more illustrious opponents - within two minutes Stephen McKeown saw his shot on the turn from the edge of the box touched over by Neil Alexander.
McKeown soon made up for that near miss however - netting the equaliser in 32 minutes with an angled drive from Simon Donnelly's reverse pass after Kevin Thomson had surrendered possession.
Rangers should have regained the lead before the interval however - a penetrating run by Darcheville in forty minutes ended with a square ball to Novo who had time and space to compose himself only to slice the ball wildly over.
Chances were few and far between as the second-half developed with the home side if anything having more of the play. Former Rangers trialist Chris Turner replaced Mark Roberts in seventy minutes, and was inches away from connecting with a Marc Twaddle cross within two minutes.
Beasley substituted for Darcheville immediately thereafter - but as extra-time loomed it was Thistle who came close to snatching the winner in 86 minutes when David Rowson was through on a Donnelly pass only for Alexander to block his effort, the goalkeeper doing likewise with Turner's shot from the rebound.
That near miss finally appeared to galvanise the holders - Mendes releasing Novo in a lightning attack only for the little Spaniard's drive to flash just over.
With the last attack of normal time, a Davis corner head-flicked on by Kirk Broadfoot at the near post found Boyd in front of goal only for his effort to be blocked.
Thus to extra-time, and eight minutes in Novo again broke through only to shoot across the face of goal.
Penalties were looming when, in 115 minutes, Kevin McKinlay lost possession to Beasley who fed Mendes, the midfielder demonstrating his class with a curling shot that found the back of the net for a truly stunning winner.
Rangers were through to the last eight, the draw for which will be made tomorrow at Hampden.
Walter Smith later reflected:
"We dominated the first-half and could have been ahead comfortably. We missed some good chances. The second-half was more even. Again we dominated extra-time and deserved to win."
PARTICK THISTLE Tuffey; Storey, Twaddle; Robertson, McKinlay, Maxwell; McKeown (Chaplain 90), Rowson, Donnelly (Gray 97), Roberts (Turner 70), Harkins
UNUSED SUBS Hinchcliffe, Kinniburgh
RANGERS Alexander; Broadfoot, Weir, Bougherra, Papac; Davis, Mendes, Thomson, Novo (Lafferty 110); Boyd, Darcheville (Beasley 72)
UNUSED SUBS McGregor, Edu, Dailly
REFEREE Steve Conroy