Celtic v Aberdeen

CELTIC v ABERDEEN / WILLIAM HILL SCOTTISH CUP SEMI-FINAL
THE ROAD TO HAMPDEN
Aberdeen have the difficult task of trying to end Celtic’s
quest to win the William Hill Scottish Cup for the fourth
successive time in today’s semi-final at Hampden Park.
Derek McInnes’ side have fared well away from Pittodrie in the tournament
so far and have enjoyed a handy trait of scoring late goals. Here is a reminder
of their route to the last four.
ABERDEEN 1-0 DUMBARTON
The Dandy Dons began the competition on 18 January
and left it late to get the win against Jim Duffy’s side,
despite dominating the match.
Sam Cosgrove’s 86thminute
penalty, which he
had won when he tempted
Morgyn Neill into a rash
challenge, eventually saw
them through.
Aberdeen had 27 shots
during the 90 minutes
and, perhaps unsurprisingly,
boss McInnes called for a
better goal return.
He said: “I’m bemoaning
and cursing the fact we
passed up so many chances.
At set-plays, every one
of my bigger lads had
opportunities - Cosgrove,
(Andrew) Considine, (Scott)
McKenna, (Ash) Taylor.
They’ve got to be better than
that. It’s a part of the game
that’s very important and
these boys have to take the
responsibility to score more
goals when the delivery is
as good as it was from Niall
McGinn today.
“If you take your chances
then Dumbarton have to
come out of their shape
to get something from the
game, but the longer it’s 0-0
the more they think they’re
in the game.
“Nobody could deny that
we deserved to win the
game. It felt like the type of
performance that maybe
merited more goals, but
you have to score them,
and we’re still searching for
penetration and quality. It’s
something we need to work
on going forward.”
ABERDEEN 0-0 KILMARNOCK
McInnes’ side were still struggling
in front of goal when they hosted
Kilmarnock on 8 February in the
fifth round.
Aberdeen had failed to find their
shooting boots after the win over
the Sons and the supporters
let them know about it. Indeed,
Aberdeen had scored just once
since the winter break.
The Granite City boss expressed
his anger and frustration after
his side’s goalless run extended
to a fifth straight game in all
competitions.
He said: “The wind made
conditions difficult for both sides,
at times farcical in the second-half,
but I’m angry and embarrassed at
not scoring for the fifth game in a
row. Clearly that’s where we need
to get better.
“If you don’t score in five games
you deserve stick, and my players
need to take more responsibility to
answer the critics.”
30
HAMPDEN PARK / SUNDAY, 1 NOVEMBER 2020