Ten-man Aberdeen advanced to the final of the Viaplay Cup with a 1-0 victory over Hibernian at Hampden Park this evening.
Bojan Miovski scored the winner with 12 minutes to play and just four minutes after his teammate Jack Mackenzie was sent off.
Martin Boyle thought he had opened the scoring for the Hibees in the 49th minute when he latched onto the end of Will Fish’s long pass before slotting the ball beyond Kelle Roos in the Aberdeen goal. However, the Australian international had his goal ruled out after a lengthy VAR check for offside.
The Dons were then reduced to ten men with 16 minutes to go when Jack Mackenzie was shown a second yellow card for a blatant off-the-ball push on Lewis Miller.
But the defender’s blushes were spared as Bojan Miovski remarkably gave Aberdeen the lead just four minutes later when he finished off a ruthless Dons counterattack!
Despite the extra player advantage, Nick Montgomery’s Hibs could not find an equaliser. Barry Robson’s Aberdeen will face the winner of tomorrow’s second semi-final between Hearts and Rangers in the final at Hampden Park on December 17.
The Dons boss was particularly pleased with by side’s attitude this evening. He said:
“To fight and show that, that shows me the real spirit and determination that the group have got.
“We’ve been on our travels a lot, it was a really hard game at Killie, we were away to Motherwell, now we’re away down to Hampden again.
“For me, to show that character and spirit is what is everything, it’s more important than talent or ability.”
Hibs manager Nick Montgomery felt aggrieved by some decisions made by referee John Beaton. He said:
“Martin Boyle’s goal, if it takes five or six minutes to deliberate whether he’s offside then it’s obviously not clear and obvious.
“In my opinion, I don’t see how he’s offside, the lines are virtually touching the defender and him.
“On the penalty incident… from where I am, the keeper has spilled the ball, Dylan Vente got there before him, he touches the ball and virtually gets rugby tackled in the box.”
