Aberdeen advanced to the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup with a 1-0 victory against Partick Thistle.
Dons stand-in captain Graeme Shinnie grabbed the game’s only goal two minutes before the break to put the Dons in the last four alongside Celtic, Rangers and Hibernian.
Partick rarely threatened and finished the game with 10 men with former Caley Thistle defender Daniel Devine sent off in injury time for a second bookable offence.
Jonny Hayes returned to the Aberdeen line-up after missing Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat by Hamilton Accies with a hamstring strain.
Peter Pawlett and Jayden Stockley also started with Ryan Christie dropping to the bench and injured duo Ryan Jack and Mark Reynolds missing out.
Partick Thistle, who had kept eight clean sheets in their previous 10 matches, stuck with the same team that defeated Dundee 1-0 at Dens Park on Wednesday.
Twenty points separate these teams in the Scottish Premiership but the in-form Jags were looking to record a fifth successive victory.
The Dons lined up in an unusual 3-5-2 with Hayes and Niall McGinn operating as wing-backs but it was Partick who looked more comfortable in the opening exchanges.
Not much in the way of goalmouth action early on with Joe Lewis easily gathering Niall Keown’s downward header before Jags top scorer Kris Doolan sliced well wide from distance.
Despite their more defensive roles, McGinn and Hayes still had licence to roam forward at will with the former firing a powerful drive over the bar from the edge of the area.
The Dons began to find their stride with Ash Taylor volleying over from the edge of the area after Partick struggled to deal with a McGinn corner.
Northern Ireland international McGinn was looking the most likely player on the park to make something to happen and he went close to breaking the deadlock in the 24th minute with a rasping drive that was superbly stopped by Tomas Cerny.
Adam Rooney, who missed a series of gilt-edged chances against Hamilton on Tuesday, allowed another promising opportunity to notch his 18th goal of the season pass by when he nodded over from a McGinn corner under minimal pressure.
The half looked set to end without a goal until the Dons made the breakthrough two minutes before the break.
McGinn picked out Shinnie just outside of the penalty area and the Dons midfielder manufactured a yard of space with a neat touch to the side before curling the ball beyond Cerny from 20 yards.
Only a great save from Cerny prevented the Dons doubling the lead three minutes into the second half with the Partick stopper at full stretch to keep out an Andrew Considine volley.
Another decent chance fell Aberdeen’s way soon after with Stockley guiding a McGinn cross into the path of Pawlett who could only find the side-netting.
Pawlett was impressing on a rare start and produced an enticing cross into the area for Rooney, whose header bounced off the wrong side of the post.
There was a worrying moment for the Dons after 65 minutes when Stockley almost headed a Ryan Edwards free kick into his own net.
Aberdeen substitute Anthony O’Connor almost put the result beyond doubt with seven minutes to go when his header from a McGinn free kick struck the crossbar.
The Dons almost paid for that miss in injury time when a Callum Booth free kick fell perfectly for Ade Azeez but the Jags substitute headed over from four yards out.
And a miserable day for Partick finished with them being reduced to 10 men when Daniel Devine was sent off for a second bookable offence.