GLASGOW (AFP) - A Barry Ferguson double helped 10-man Rangers ease into the UEFA Cup last 16 with a comfortable 4-0 victory at home to Israeli side Hapoel Tel-Aviv.

A Kris Boyd goal between the Rangers captain's goals and a Charlie Adam strike in injury time completed the 5-2 aggregate win for the Scottish side.

However, qualification came at a cost, with the Ibrox side's goalkeeper Allan McGregor suspended for their next game after being sent-off in controversial circumstances after clashing with Luciano De Bruno.

The red card could not dampen the spirts of Rangers manager Walter Smith who thought it was his team's best performance since he took over from Paul Le Guen in January.

"It is a terrific result and a great performance by the team," said Smith.

"I'll be disappointed if the sending-off incident takes away from the fact we played so well."

Hapoel boss Nir Leven disappointed with his team's performance.

He said: "We didn't play good. We lost 4-0 and that's not the way we wanted to go out of the competition.

"We lost too many balls, didn't play with confidence and didn't create enough chances."

In the 24th minute Ferguson had blasted Rangers into the lead with an emphatic finish.

Trailing 2-1 from the first leg Rangers went on the offensive from the off and only the woodwork prevented them opening the scoring in the fourth minute.

Chris Burke's near post corner was met by right-back Alan Hutton and his looping header sailed over Hapoel goalkeeper Shavit Elimelech only to rebound off the crossbar.

Hapoel should have silenced the Ibrox crowd in the 20th minute when Elyaniv Barda's cross was knocked on by Barukh Dego to put Salim Toema in on goal but he fired into the side-netting instead of testing McGregor.

In the 24th minute Rangers punished the visitors when Ferguson blasted the Scottish side into the lead with an emphatic finish.

Spanish striker Nacho Novo did well on the right before firing a low ball across goal for the Rangers skipper to rifle a powerful first-time shot from 12 yards into the roof of the net.

Almost immediately Barda could have levelled for Tel-Aviv when he was inches away from connecting with Toema's attempted shot which flashed across the face of goal.

But in the 35th minute Hapoel gifted Rangers a second goal.

There appeared to be no pressure on Josef Abukasis when he collected the ball on the edge of his own penalty area, but instead of clearing his lines he hesitated before firing straight at the chest of Boyd.

The Rangers striker could not believe his luck and clinically finished low past Elimelech from 12 yards as the Israel players screamed in vain for a handball decision.

In the 72nd minute Rangers increased their lead.

Hutton won a tackle just inside the Hapoel half knocking the ball into the path of Dado Prso, who had replaced Boyd in the 63rd minute. The Croatian striker drove in on goal before selfishly squaring for Ferguson to side-foot the ball into the net from close range.

As Rangers fans in the 46,213 crowd began to celebrate, McGregor and De Bruno - a half-time substitute for Dego - appeared to square up to each other resulting in the Hapoel player crumbling to the ground.

Italian referee Matteo Simone showed no hesitation in showing a straight red card to McGregor. German stopper Stefan Klos replaced McGregor in goal, with Novo making way.

Rangers substitute Adam, who replaced Burke in the 90th minute, scored a fourth goal deep into injury time, striking Rae's cutback low into the net from 16-yards, to take the Scottish side into the last 16 of the competition.