Of the three possible options, I think Rangers was the best possible Premier Sports Cup semi-final draw for Aberdeen.
Rangers haven’t been playing very well recently and they weren’t overly impressive in their quarter-final win against Dundee.
It wasn’t that long ago that Lewis Ferguson headed home the winner for Aberdeen against Rangers at Hampden in a League Cup semi-final.
Celtic are a better team so they were definitely one to be avoided and I think Kilmarnock, especially under former Dons boss Derek McInnes, would have been dangerous opponents.
Aberdeen would have went into the semi-final as favourites against Kilmarnock and that would have been a bit worrying as the Dons haven’t been doing overly well in those situations.
They have been doing well at home – and they beat Killie 4-1 at Pittodrie earlier this month – but the most important thing is they address their poor away form before the semi-final in January.
They need to start picking up points in the league on the road if they are going to be able to head to Hampden with the confidence required to cause an upset against Rangers.
I feel the players are more likely to rise to the occasion in a match against Rangers than they would in a game against Killie where there may have been a bit more pressure on the Dons.
Jim Goodwin’s side deserved their place in the semi-final. The performance in the first half was very good. Partick did well and harassed the Dons all the time.
I was disappointed with Aberdeen’s second half display while Partick deserved a lot of credit for the way they played.
They pressed high up the park and put Aberdeen under pressure when it could have been easy for their players to have felt the tie was already gone.
One concern is that Aberdeen still seem to have these 15-minute spells where the team falls asleep and allows opponents back into matches.
That can be very costly in big games.
On a more positive note, getting almost 10,000 at a midweek cup game was a decent turnout, especially with the way finances are for everyone just now.
The Dons also deserve praise for their response to the 4-0 defeat against Dundee United at Tannadice.
That heavy defeat against a rival club could have spiralled into a bad run of form so Jim has done well to bounce back with two impressive and much-needed wins against Hearts and Partick.
One man who impressed again was Luis ‘Duk’ Lopes.
It looks like Duk and Bojan Miovski are starting to form a strong partnership together in attack.
Duk is good with the ball at his feet and he has highlighted his finishing ability in the past couple of games.
Duk’s form is timely because Miovski’s levels have dropped slightly. That might be because opposition defences are wary of him after his early season form. He doesn’t seem to be getting as many chances.
Christian Ramirez looked lively when he came on so it feels like Aberdeen are in a good place and they will head into the World Cup break knowing they have a day out at Hampden to look forward to early next year.
There are still five leagues games left to play before the break so hopefully reaching the last four of the competition can help the Dons keep that momentum going over the next few weeks.
A step too VAR?
It’s going to be fascinating to see how the first weekend of VAR in domestic Scottish football goes.
There is no shortage of controversy in our national game at the best of times and it will be no surprise if there are issues with the new video assistant referees.
VAR will be in operation when Aberdeen take on Motherwell at Fir Park this Saturday.
The Dons could have done with VAR on a couple of occasions already this season, especially the controversial encounter at Easter Road when Ryan Porteous won a dubious penalty for Hibs.
That resulted in a red card and suspension for Liam Scales and a lengthy dugout ban for Jim Goodwin for his comments which are now under appeal.
I’m sure we will all get used to VAR in Scottish football but it’s certain to create some major talking points in the short term as referees, players, managers and fans get accustomed to it.
Duncan deserves his chance
Ryan Duncan looks like the latest Aberdeen player with a bright future in the game.
The attacking midfielder has some great attributes – he is tall, strong, has an eye for goal and a turn of pace.
He scored a great goal against Partick to help the Dons into the last four of the Premier Sports Cup.
It was great to see Alfie Bavidge included in the matchday squad against Hearts at the weekend following his scoring spree in the SPFL Youth League.
The supporters always love seeing young players breaking into the first team and a lot of the credit goes to Barry Robson, Neil Simpson, Gavin Levey and the rest of the Aberdeen youth academy staff who work so hard to develop these players.
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