MAN OF THE MATCH
SCOTT McKENNA was a rock at the back for Aberdeen on a night when there wasn’t a failure from the men in red. That’s their second clean sheet in Glasgow in the space of four days as the defender showed just why he’s part of Alex McLeish’s Scotland squad announced yesterday.
Ultimately, however, Rangers’ abject failure to penetrate well-drilled defences was brutally exposed by the Dons, who have become the latest to build a defensive rock on which Ibrox ambitions have foundered. Dundee, Kilmarnock, St Johnstone and Hibs have all done likewise in the league.
It’s why the Dons march through to face Celtic at Hampden next month while Rangers trail eight points behind their arch rivals at the top of the table.
Eight Reds were booked last night and only three from Rangers, including Morelos. That was also a telling stat on an occasion in which the Dons refused to be bullied or overrun.
They made the best of that early advantage and Connor McLennan’s second-half strike on the counter attack was no more than the Dons deserved for their game management.
This on a night in which McKenna’s application was matched in every area of the pitch, particularly by 17-yearold Dean Campbell who was making his first start in the engine room.
It was not the night to make kneejerk reactions on Gerrard’s first season in charge because his run to the group stage of the Europa League, in particular, has earned him kudos.
But the boos that rang out on the final whistle left him in no doubt of the creative edge he needs to find, consistently and quickly, if his project is to remain on course next season.
Rangers were ponderous and pedestrian in the final third and Dons keeper Joe Lewis was utterly underworked as Aberdeen saw out the replay on their terms before taking the plaudits of their fans.
A minute of silence for former Rangers and Scotland defender Eric Caldow, who passed away last week, was impeccably observed by fans of both clubs.
Goodness knows what Caldow would have made of the opener as the Dons were gifted a gateway towards the semis. Kamara has been drowning in praise since he joined in January