United go Disappointment for the Tangerines as they exit cup up at Pittodrie

PLAYERRATINGS

IN the midst of the bravado that comes with facing old rivals, when the draw for the fifth round of the Scottish Cup handed their team a trip to Aberdeen there had to be an unspoken fear among Dundee United fans the tie would reveal in terms of quality a chasm now existed between the teams.

For a time during yesterday’s Pittodrie clash, that it was so looked like being screamed loud and clear.

With the Dons 3-1 up by the break and adding a fourth goal with well over half an hour of the second half left, the kind of beating teams take a long time to recover from looked on the cards.

And with the Tangerines already suffering a slump in league form, the consequence of another painful loss might well have had wider ranging ramifications than just exiting the cup.

By the end of the 90 minutes, however, and although defeat was still hard to take, for the first time in a while there was some consolation to be taken from a defeat.

There was no question Aberdeen deserved a victory that gave them the chance to look forward to a home tie with Kilmarnock in next month’s quarter-finals, nor could it be argued that the 4-2 score flattered them.

But for United fans there was at least the knowledge their team had gone down fighting and battled to the end.

When things went wrong there was no meek surrender like in last month’s damaging league defeats at the hands of Falkirk and Morton.

This time, when things were going against them, they dug in and kept working to find a way back into the tie.

Truth is that was never going to happen because, even if they had a couple of sloppy moments, this is a strong Aberdeen outfit that seems to be coming good at the right time of the season.

Another truth is while attitude alone might be enough when faced with a team from near the top of the Premiership, add it to the talent that exists in their squad and it might be sufficient to get their flagging promotion challenge back on track.

If, and it remains an if, Csaba Laszlo’s men can maintain this approach, fans can at least have some hope of a recovery between now and the end of the campaign.

Unfortunately, hopes of success in the Granite City were quickly dashed.

While United started reasonably brightly, Aberdeen soon began to take control and it was not hugely surprising when Adam Rooney gave them a 20th-minute lead.

Tannadice old boy Gary Mackay-Steven added the second seven minutes later and, if a well-taken Sam Stanton effort 11 minutes from the break gave hope to travelling fans, within a minute or so a Kenny McLean header had dashed it.

When Mackay-Steven struck his second after 55 minutes, that hammering many feared looked on the cards.

Helped in no small part by the work of second-half sub Paul McMullan, United clawed themselves some way back into things and McMullan’s fine late strike was reward for that.

As with any defeat, there were negatives and errors made for all of the goals conceded. At least, though, they didn’t lead to total collapse and that was something.