Ross County 1-2 Aberdeen: Barry Robson's side advance to Viaplay Cup semi with Hibernian
- Published
Graeme Shinnie's opener lit up the tie in the early stages
Aberdeen booked a Viaplay Cup semi-final encounter with Hibernian after earning a second win over Ross County in four days.
Barry Robson's side triumphed 4-0 on Sunday in the Premiership and picked up where they left off when Graeme Shinnie's stunning volley gave them the lead after just eight minutes.
County's night went from bad to worse moments later when captain Jack Baldwin received a straight red card for hauling down Duk as he burst in on goal.
The visitors doubled their advantage through Ester Sokler's first Aberdeen goal, with Kyle Turner's spot-kick coming too late for the hosts to mount a meaningful comeback.
"The sending off changed the game a bit and it took us a while to get into the rhythm of that," said manager Robson.
"I didn't feel nervous. We said to them we don't need to go and score lots of goals, just keep control, and we did that."
After the spectacular opener, Bojan Miovski, Slobodan Rubezic, and captain Shinnie again all went close for the visitors, who were looking to hammer home their numerical advantage before the break.
Aberdeen - who had claims for a penalty waved away when Shinnie went down in the box under a challenge from Connor Randall - continued to carry more threat in the second half, but County did well to stay in the game.
It looked to be all over on 79 minutes when Sokler volleyed home from close range to double their lead.
But County weren't done, and they cut the deficit moments later when Turner converted a penalty awarded after Rubezic brought down Alex Samuel.
That set up a grandstand finish but County couldn't find an equaliser as Aberdeen booked their place in the semi finals.
Player of the match - Graeme Shinnie (Aberdeen)
A real captain's display, composed and assured in the heart of the Aberdeen midfield. Oh and his goal was straight out of the top drawer
Have Aberdeen turned a corner? And can County respond? - analysis
The evidence of the last few days would suggest there is a growing body of evidence to argue that Aberdeen have turned a corner.
Having given Eintracht Frankfurt a scare in Germany, Robson's side have followed that up by taking care of their County double header.
It isn't just about the results, but the consistency of performance has very visibly improved over the last week.
A number of the new recruits - particularly Richard Jensen and Stefan Gartenmann at the back - look to have now settled in and Aberdeen are now starting to reap the rewards.
This will continue to be a work in progress as Robson's men continue to juggle domestic and continental commitments, but there are now real signs this new-look side are starting to grow in confidence.
As for County, it has been a tough double header this week. Malky Mackay must now ensure that the back-to-back defeats don't derail what has been a pretty positive start to the season.
And he doesn't have much time to lift the spirits, with Hearts heading north on Saturday.
What they said
Aberdeen manager Barry Robson: "I don't think Kelle [Roos] had a save to make, although County came into it in the last 10 minutes. I thought we were in total control apart from that.
"We said to them we don't need to go and score lots of goals, just keep control and we did that. They came after us but we defended well in the end.
"The aim was to get to Hampden. Let's see how we can perform and how far we can keep progressing."
Ross County manager Malky Mackay: "I'm really proud, to be honest. I can't ask for any more of my players.
"It's one of those ones where VAR would have a look at it and obviously we're down to 10 men and you look at that and think it could be a really tough night but we turn it into a hell of a cup tie.
"With five or 10 minutes to go Aberdeen are piling players on to sit further and further back. If we keep playing like that we're going pick up points in the league."
What's next?
County welcome Hearts on Saturday (15:00 BST), while Aberdeen play Rangers at Ibrox at the same time.