GLASGOW (Reuters) - Rangers secured a place in the Scottish Cup semi-finals after beating second division Partick Thistle 2-0 in their quarter-final replay at Firhill on Sunday.

Nacho Novo and Chris Burke struck with first-half goals for the Scottish Premier League leaders who now face St Johnstone in the last four. The winners of that tie face Queen of the South, also from the second tier of Scottish football, in the final on May 24.

"The performance and everything else was secondary, the result was the most important thing," Rangers assistant manager Ally McCoist told BBC radio.

Rangers took the lead after 27 minutes with Spanish striker Novo firing in a six metre shot following a cross by Burke.

Novo returned the favour five minutes from the break with a cross to the back post which Kris Boyd nodded across to Burke to net with a close-range header.

Thistle were handed a penalty two minutes into the second half when Mark Roberts was tripped by Rangers defender David Weir. But Simon Donnelly missed the target with his spot kick.

French striker Daniel Cousin also squandered a penalty for Rangers with five minutes left when his shot was well stopped by keeper Jonny Tuffey.

(Editing by Justin Palmer)