THIS one was all about progress. Now, once again, it is about Progres for Rangers as familiar foes stand in their way in the Europa League.

Two years after the most embarrassing night in their illustrious history, and 12 months after they were minutes away from a rematch, Rangers will face Progres Niederkorn for a second time.

The build-up will no doubt be dominated by talk of revenge, by the Light Blues having the chance to right a wrong after their humiliating exit during Pedro Caixinha’s ill-fated reign.

But the history will matter little for boss Steven Gerrard and this group of players he has assembled as he looks to lead Rangers to the group stages of the Europa League for the second consecutive season.

Rangers are in a far better place, on and off the park, today than they were on that historic, for all the wrong reasons, July evening. Gerrard will no doubt use those events at the Stade Josy Barthel as a warning, but he won’t allow his players to make the same mistakes as he looks to tick off another tie with the minimum of fuss.

That is certainly what they did here as Alfredo Morelos hit a hat-trick, Joe Aribo scored his first goal for the Gers and Jermain Defoe netted a second half brace.

Rangers had secured their place in the second qualifying round days before a ball was kicked at Ibrox. Once the first goal was scored in Gibraltar last Tuesday night, St Joseph’s were beaten in this tie.

The formalities were completed on home soil. In front of an impressive and vocal Ibrox crowd, Rangers eased to a 6-0 victory over their visitors that would have revelled in the surroundings but dreaded this could unfold on the park.

When Aribo opened the scoring inside four minutes, it was shaping up to be a long, torturous night for St Joseph’s. It was a case of how many Rangers would win by, how seriously they really wanted to treat a match that was akin to the friendly fixtures they have played against Oxford United and Marseille over the last fortnight.

For much of the first half, the Gers fans would have had one eye on the action here whilst checking up on how the match in Luxembourg was unfolding as Cork City sensed a shock of their own.

The Irish outfit had lost 2-0 on home soil last week and seemingly had little chance of a comeback but it took a second half salvation strike for Progres to set up their rematch with Rangers.

As the home crowd discussed the action at the interval, that would have undoubtedly been the main topic of conversation. In truth, there was little else to chew over at that stage.

The early strike from Aribo, the midfielder collecting a neat pass from Greg Docherty and finishing well from inside the area, had given Rangers the perfect start.

It didn’t quite open the floodgates, though. The Gers were dominant and more than comfortable but without the need to add to their tally, they were slack in the final third at times in the first half.

Greg Stewart glanced a header across goal from an Andy Halliday cross, while the stand-in left-back curled a free-kick wide from the edge of the box.

It was a much-changed line-up that Gerrard had selected and there were signs that this side hadn’t quite gelled as too many moves broke down prematurely.

Given the stage of the season and the number of matches played so far, that was only natural and Gerrard will have no doubt that Rangers can become more clinical and cohesive as the weeks progress.

The scoreboard didn’t tick over as often as was expected in the first half but Rangers still had decent chances. Five minutes before the break, Morelos burst down the left and into the box and picked out Jake Hastie.

The angle was tight, but the forward, earlier denied his first goal by the offside flag, really should have hit the target as he pulled a tame effort wide of the far post.

The second goal did eventually arrive for Rangers and Hastie was involved. His corner was flicked on by Connor Goldson and Morelos made it two goals in as many competitive games this term as he headed home at the back post to round of a satisfying, if hardly scintillating, 45 minutes of action at Ibrox.

The second, unsurprisingly, followed the same pattern and Rangers didn’t have to wait long to make it three on the night and seven overall.

A foul on Docherty from Daniel Guerrero gave Morelos the chance from the spot and it was one he made no mistake with. His penalty was powerful and the outstretched Jamie Robba could only watch on as he ball found the corner of the net.

The same pair would combine as Morelos got his hat-trick with his final touch of the night. It was a clinical one as he beat Robba from close range after a Docherty cross from the right.

Gerrard, having already introduced Scott Arfield on his return to action, was able to give Defoe the final 20 minutes, while Josh McPake made his competitive debut for the Gers.

The former England striker wasted little time in getting in on the scoring action. The assist again came from the right flank - Matt Polster providing it on this occasion – and Defoe converted from close range as Rangers closed in on a double digits aggregate victory.

With four minutes left, it was 10-0 overall. Stewart flicked an Arfield pass into Defoe and he completed his brace, and the scoring, with a neat finish. The job was done emphatically for Rangers.