Rangers and Aberdeen player ratings as 8/10 chief tormentor plays decisive role to settle turgid semi-final

Rangers moved to within 90 minutes of lifting the Premier Sports Cup and ending a three-year trophy drought after a battling 1-0 victory over Aberdeen in a semi-final clash devoid of quality at Hampden Park.

Derek McInnes' side booked their place in the final with a hard-fought win over the Dons, keeping them on track for silverware as the Ibrox club look to get a new era up and running under their manager.

Aberdeen, meanwhile, were left to reflect on another frustrating evening after falling short in their bid to reach a second successive League Cup final.

The decisive moment arrived late in the contest when Ryan Naderi timed his run into the box perfectly to latch onto James Penrice’s low cross before side-footing into the bottom right-hand corner.

That solitary strike was enough to settle a tense encounter and send Rangers through to December’s showpiece, where they will face either Hearts or Hibs, who meet in Sunday's second semi-final.

It also keeps Rangers' hopes of lifting the trophy for the first time since 2023 alive, while Aberdeen's defence of the competition came to an end.

Rangers started brightly and looked to make their attacking threat count through Badredine Bouanani, who caused Aberdeen’s backline plenty of problems down the right flank. The winger delivered a dangerous ball into the box which forced Nicky Devlin to intervene, before Kevin Kelsy headed wide from a corner as McInnes’ side looked to establish early control.

However, clear-cut opportunities were difficult to come by during the opening stages. Aberdeen gradually settled into the contest and threatened through left-back Nesta Guinness-Walker, whose driven low effort was comfortably dealt with by Ivor Pandur.

Kevin Nisbet also went close for Stephen Robinson's men, getting on the end of a Brad Lyons delivery but sending his header wide of the target.

Rangers finished an underwhelming first-half strongly and came close to breaking the deadlock just before the interval. Nico Raskin's delivery found Naderi, whose header drifted narrowly over the crossbar, before Minsu Kim flashed an effort wide from the edge of the area.

Rangers continued to push after the restart, with Bouanani again at the heart of their attacking play. His dangerous delivery picked out Kelsy inside the penalty area, but the Venezuelan striker could only direct his header agonisingly wide when presented with a promising opportunity.

Kim then tested Dons No.1 Marius Muller with a low shot, while Bouanani saw another attempt blocked on the goal-line by Devlin as Rangers increased the pressure.

Muller was then called upon to produce an excellent save to deny Raskin at full stretch as Aberdeen struggled to contain the growing wave of Rangers attacks. But the Dons remained dangerous on the counter and Nisbet threatened twice in quick succession as the match entered its closing stages.

Olwethu Makhanya had to produce an important last-ditch block to prevent the Aberdeen captain from striking the front. And that proved a significant moment as Rangers immediately renewed their search for a winner.

With nine minutes remaining, the breakthrough finally arrived. Kelsy launched a counter-attack following an Aberdeen corner before bringing Bouanani into play. His low delivery was cleared into the path of Penrice, whose ball back into the danger area was turned home from close range by Naderi.

A tiring Aberdeen were unable to muster a response in stoppage time, with Rangers holding on to secure their place in the final.