Aberdeen draw Rangers in semis after Thistle rout

Aberdeen will face Rangers in the Scottish League Cup semi-finals after sweeping past Partick Thistle.

Championship leaders Thistle hit back after the break when Darren Brownlie headed past Kelle Roos from a corner.

But a lovely strike from Ryan Duncan restored Aberdeen’s three-goal cushion.

The semi-finals will be played over the weekend of January 14-15 at Hampden, with holders Celtic facing Kilmarnock in the other tie.

The home side took the lead after 16 minutes when Coulson stole the ball off Stuart Bannigan in midfield before playing in Lopes, who coldly slotted beyond Jamie Sneddon.

Thistle defender Aaron Muirhead had been booked early on and was fortunate not to see a second yellow when dragging down Lopes down the left-hand side. However, Ian McCall erred on the side of caution and replaced the centre-back with Lee Hodson.

Aberdeen kept driving forward and goal number two duly arrived. Coulson’s shot was on target but was deflected by both Hodson and Holt before ending up in the back of the net.

And there was a similar outcome for the third with another Coulson effort being deflected into the net by Jack McMillan.

McCall brought on Brownlie at the break with Scott Tiffoney making way. And there was also a rare sighting of Aberdeen striker Christian Ramirez, who replaced Bojan Miovski at the start of the second half, much to the delight of the home fans.

But it was the 730 who made the trip from Glasgow to watch their team who had something to cheer in the second half.

A corner was floated deep to the back post where substitute Brownlie leapt high above Ross McCrorie to nod into the bottom corner of the net.

Ramirez came close to regaining the Dons’ three-goal lead with an outrageous effort from 25 yards, but Sneddon pulled off a terrific save to deny the striker.

The fourth did arrive with five minutes left when Duncan fired home from the edge of the 18-yard box to wrap up a resounding win.

Player of the match – Hayden Coulson

What they said

Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin: “The objective for these cup competitions is to make sure you’re in the hat, and we’ve done that. First half I thought we were excellent against a very good Partick Thistle team.

“The remit was to get to Hampden. We have to believe we’re capable of going all the way. Otherwise what’s the point?”

Partick Thistle boss Ian McCall: “I don’t think the result flattered Aberdeen. It’s a lesson for some of the boys who have got ambitions to play at this level – you cannot turn over the ball in daft areas, otherwise teams will hurt you.”

What’s next?

Aberdeen travel to Motherwell on Saturday for a Scottish Premiership clash (15:00 BST), while Partick Thistle host Queen’s Park in the Championship at the same time.