Nico Raskin headed the opener and Vaclav Cerny slotted a second as Rangers beat Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise 2-1 in Glasgow on Thursday to go directly through to the Europa League round of 16.

Belgian midfielder Raskin headed his first goal of the season in the 20th minute at Ibrox and Cerny calmly doubled the tally in the 55th as Rangers moved up from 13th to eighth in the table.

The visitors, who pulled a goal back through Kevin Mac Allister in the 83rd and had a Franjo Ivanovic equaliser ruled out for offside after a VAR check, progressed to the playoffs.

Rangers could have been 2-0 up just before halftime when Cyriel Dessers had the ball in the back of the net but the effort was ruled out for offside.