There were goals galore at Ibrox but, unfortunately for Dunfermline, seven of them were scored by Rangers.
It was an ultimately comfortable passage to the quarter-finals of the Co-operative Insurance Cup for the holders, while it was a long trip back to Fife for Jim McIntyre’s men.
They did have the Light Blues wobbling at one stage, getting the scoreline back to 3-2 just after the break, but they could not cope when the home side were in full flow.
Man-of-the-match Kyle Lafferty grabbed a hat-trick for Rangers, Nikica Jelavic got a double, Madjid Bougherra chipped in with one, as did Steven Naismith.
Dunfermline’s scorers were Calum Woods (41 minutes) and Joe Cardle (46), but those counters were overshadowed by a dominant display from Walter Smith’s men.
McIntyre said, “We asked the boys at half-time to show a bit of courage, try to get the next goal and see where that took us… and we did that.
“But we committed the cardinal sin 20 seconds later by giving away the next goal and that totally deflated us. We started not doing our jobs properly.”
He added, “When a team scores seven goals, though, you have to give them credit and their appetite for the game was very good.
“That says a lot about them but we have to look at the goals we gave away.
“That was the sore point.”Gers’ goals “fantastic”Rangers assistant boss Ally McCoist was delighted with the quality of his side’s finishing.
He said, “I thought the standard of the goals we scored was out of this world.
“Some of the goals were fantastic.”
He added, “There were a lot of plusses but also negatives for us, too, because the goals we lost were very poor.
“Maybe I am nit-picking ever so slightly, though, because it was a great result for us.”
The Pars made two changes to the starting line-up against Cowdenbeath, with Gary Mason and Steven McDougall replaced by Alex Burke and Nicky Phinn.
The Light Blues weren’t so conservative. Missing from the side that kicked off against Dundee United were Allan McGregor, Steven Whittaker, David Weir, Sasa Papac, Lee McCulloch, Maurice Edu and Kenny Miller.
In for his first competitive start of the season came Andy Webster, along with keeper Neil Alexander, Andy Little, Kirk Broadfoot, Kyle Hutton, Naismith and Lafferty.Pars’ intentBacked by a good travelling support, Dunfermline had an early go at the home side.
Phinn did well to intercept a stray ball on six minutes and raced past Webster. He should have pulled the trigger but waited too long and had to settle for a corner.
Both teams were struggling to keep possession on a heavily-watered surface, but Ibrox skipper Steven Davis came close in the 14th minute when he worked a one-two with Jelavic, but his close-range shot was well saved by Chris Smith.
Pars winger Willie Gibson tried his luck with a curling shot but it was the Ibrox men who took the lead on 21 minutes.
Broadfoot collected the ball six yards outside the box and threaded a pass forward to Jelavic, who flicked his shot past Smith.
When you concede the first goal to the Old Firm in Glasgow you are immediately vulnerable to losing another and such was the script for the Pars, who found themselves two down just a couple of minutes later thanks to a Lafferty toepoke.
Naismith raced from his own half up the left-hand side of the park and looked likely to set up number three on the half-hour but ran out of steam.
The home fans didn’t have long to wait, though, because it was 3-0 on 38 minutes. Vladimir Weiss played a cross over from the right and Bougherra, fancying a role up front, produced a fantastic finish to flick the ball just inside the far post.Seventh heaven at IbroxIt looked all over for Dunfermline but the Fifers, to their immense credit, got a goal back four minutes before half-time.
Gibson sent over a corner from the left which was left by the Rangers defence and Woods did brilliantly to head home at the back post.
The fight-back appeared to be on just a minute into the second period with a superbly-worked goal. Cardle picked the ball up on the right wing, checked his run then played it back to Gibson.
As Cardle raced into the goalmouth, Gibson swung his cross over and the unmarked Cardle, from right in front of goal, headed powerfully past Alexander.
The Pars fans were on their feet celebrating but they were back in their seats just 60 seconds later when Rangers hit back through Lafferty, who finished well with his left foot to make it 4-2.
Cardle tested the home keeper with a long-range effort on 53 minutes then Lafferty had a chance of a hat-trick but fired over when in a great position.
Cardle, again, found space but curled his effort over before Rangers grabbed a fifth on the hour-mark through Jelavic, who produced an acrobatic overhead kick that left Smith with no chance.
The Pars were hit for six with 71 minutes on the clock when Lafferty danced across the visitors’ defence before firing low inside Smith’s left-hand post. It was a fine solo effort and a well-deserved treble for the Northern Ireland international.
The Pars introduced all their subs, with McDougall replacing Phinn, Pat Clarke coming on for Kirk and Cardle making way for Paul Willis.
Naismith was then found at the back post, from where he nodded home Rangers’ seventh to cap a difficult night for the visitors.