Andrew Dickson reports from Ibrox

RANGERS will face Partick Thistle in the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup after a tense 1-0 home win over Hibernian.

Chris Burke's counter before the break made the difference but the game will be remembered more for the second-half sending off of sub Nacho Novo.

The Spanish forward was dismissed for making a two-footed challenge on Thierry Gathuessi nine minutes from the end.

Frantic scenes followed, with manager Walter Smith then sent to the stand for arguing with opposite number Mixu Paatelainen in the Hibs technical area.

Smith's men held on to their narrow lead, despite being a man down, and will now take on Thistle in the last eight a week on Wednesday.

This win marked Gers' 20th match in succession without defeat and for that statistic at least, the hosts will be pleased with the final outcome.

With games coming thick and fast just now, manager Smith made six changes to the side which recorded such a rousing 2-0 victory against Werder Bremen on Thursday.

Neil Alexander was in goals because Allan McGregor suspended and Steven Naismith, Steven Whittaker, Lee McCulloch, Burke and Kevin Thomson also started.

That meant Charlie Adam dropped to the bench while Daniel Cousin was ruled out through injury and Sasa Papac, Brahim Hemdani and David Weir were rested.

So many alterations made for a quiet opening spell but Rangers were to have the first effort on goal.

Whittaker was the man who came close, his low shot from 25 yards being tipped wide by away keeper Yves Ma-Kalambay.

A goalmouth scramble followed from the resulting corner, with Hibs eventually clearing to safety, before McCulloch glanced a header just past the post.

The Light Blues were enjoying more possession and the visitors, backed by a large travelling support, offered little in return.

But they tested Alexander with a fierce 30-yard drive from Steven Fletcher, which was well palmed away by the debutant goalie.

Back came Gers, with Burke having a go from distance but missing the target and Barry Ferguson just failing to connect with a good Naismith cross.

The game needed a spark and McCulloch tried to give it one but his goalbound shot was blocked.

In reply, Hibs started to come forward a bit more but neither John Rankin nor Abderraouf Zarabi could trouble Alexander from long range.

They will wish they had because six minutes before the break, moments after Zarabi's chance, Burke put Rangers ahead.

Having collected the ball from Steven Davis, he cut in from the right and moved the ball on to his left foot before firing across goal into the top corner from 15 yards.

The strike gave Burke confidence and he had another opportunity prior to half-time but couldn't convert.

Neither could Naismith, who saw one effort hacked away after it hit the bar then watched Ma-Kalambay save another after Burke put him in.

McCulloch also had a shot saved by the big Belgian and Thomson drilled a foot too far right as Rangers finished the first period with a flourish.

They tried to keep that going after the restart and Kirk Broadfoot's deep ball from the right almost drifted in at the far post.

But it took time for Smith's players to press home their advantage, with Hibs having more of the ball than they had previously.

Christian Dailly's misplaced pass allowed Brian Kerr to set up Fletcher but he drove over then headed past after Carlos Cuellar conceded a free kick.

Naismith tried to ease the mounting pressure from the edge of the area but missed and was replaced by Novo shortly afterwards.

The little Spaniard should have had a penalty soon after his introduction when his low cutback appeared to be handled by the Hibees' Chris Hogg.

But referee Craig Thomson waved away claims for a spot kick and more controversy followed nine minutes from the end when he sent Novo off.

The striker skipped past one man but when he then launched into a 50/50 tackle with Gathuessi, he was deemed to have done so with two feet and shown a red card.

That prompted a furious reaction from the home bench, with manager Smith also being sent to the stand for his part.

Substitutions by both sides came immediately, with Hibs looking to force the match into extra-time, but they couldn't do it and Gers are through at their expense.

RANGERS: Alexander; Broadfoot, Cuellar, Dailly, Whittaker; Burke, Ferguson, Thomson, Davis, Naismith (Novo 67); McCulloch (Boyd 81).

Subs not used: Reidford, Adam, Furman.

HIBERNIAN: Ma-Kalambay; Gathuessi, Hogg, Jones, Zarabi; Shiels (Morais 71), Kerr (Benjelloun 81), Murray, O'Brien; Rankin; Fletcher.

Subs not used: McNeil, Zemmama, Chisholm.

Referee: Craig Thomson.