Goldson helps Rangers brush aside Dundee to reach Scottish Cup last four

Rangers cruised into the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup with a 3-0 win over Dundee at the Kilmac Stadium.

The defender Connor Goldson drove them ahead in the ninth minute before the captain, James Tavernier, scored a penalty after 24 minutes and the Premiership’s bottom team had no answer. Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side controlled the rest of the game, with the substitute Fashion Sakala adding a third with three minutes remaining.

It was the end of a good week for Rangers, who beat Aberdeen 1-0 in the Premiership last Saturday before a 3-0 victory over Red Star Belgrade in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie at Ibrox on Thursday.

They joined Hearts and Hibernian in the last four, and the winner of Monday night’s Dundee United versus Celtic tie at Tannadice will complete the lineup. Dundee will welcome Rangers on league duty next Sunday, when survival points are required.

Van Bronckhorst shuffled his pack after his side’s European exertions. The midfielder Aaron Ramsey made only his second start since arriving on loan from Juventus in January while Jon McLaughlin, Filip Helander and James Sands also came in. Dundee showed three changes with Lee Ashcroft, Paul McGowan and Daniel Mullen returning.

Hibernian’s manager, Shaun Maloney, hailed Elias Melkersen’s “amazing” first start after the 19-year-old scored a double to take the club to Hampden. The Norwegian scored twice in the first-half to seal a 2-1 win over 10-man Motherwell and book a place in the Scottish Cup semi-finals.

The former Bodo/Glimt player powerfully headed home in the 15th minute and then latched on to a ball over the top to drill home, with both goals set up by Sylvester Jasper. Maloney said: “He has worked so hard in the last six weeks to