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

Semi-finals are rarely beautiful. They are too tense for that, too important and too full of fear. The prize on offer on Saturday evening at Hampden was a place in December’s Premier Sports Cup final and, for Rangers, the chance to end a three-year wait for a trophy. With a stake that large, nobody expected free-flowing football, and nobody got it. What they got instead was a scrappy, cagey and often ugly contest that was settled by a single goal seven minutes from the end. Rangers moved to within ninety minutes of lifting the trophy after a battling 1-0 victory over Aberdeen in a clash that was devoid of quality. It was not pretty, but in cup football pretty has never been the point.

The man who made the difference was Ryan Naderi, and the headline’s description of him as an 8/10 chief tormentor is a fair summary of what he did over the evening. He worried Aberdeen’s defenders throughout, he never stopped running, and when the chance finally arrived, he was in exactly the right place to take it. 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. Another report described it as a stab from close range after Penrice blasted the ball across the area, and the two accounts agree on the substance. It was a poacher’s finish, and it was the product of persistence as much as quality.

The context for that goal is important, because it explains why the evening felt so tense. Aberdeen arrived at Hampden in poor form, having lost three of their last four league matches, and many people expected Rangers to dominate. Instead, the Dons defended deep, stayed compact and made it difficult for the favourites to find any room. They frustrated Rangers in a first half that was short of clear opportunities, and they continued to hold out as Rangers pushed for the breakthrough after the interval. By the time the match reached its closing stages, the tie looked to be heading for extra time, and Stephen Robinson’s team had every reason to believe they had done enough to survive.

That is what makes Naderi’s goal so significant. It came at a moment when Aberdeen had begun to believe, and it denied them what had looked like a well-earned draw. The Czech striker’s close-range finish in the eighty-third minute sent Rangers into the final and left the Dons without reward for a determined defensive effort. The goal was his eighth of the season, according to the PA match report, which is a healthy return for a forward who has been in and out of the team. It also underlined the value of the strikers’ partnership with Kevin Kelsy, who worked hard alongside him and helped to occupy the centre-backs.

Naderi deserves an 8/10 not just for the goal but for the quality of his work off the ball. A striker in a game like this has a thankless job. The service is poor, the space is limited and every challenge is physical. The best forwards respond by finding small advantages, whether that is a clever movement to drag a defender out of position or a well-timed run to receive a pass. Naderi did all of that, and he never let his frustration show when the chances failed to come. That patience was rewarded in the end, and it is the sort of quality that managers prize in a cup tie, where one moment can decide everything.

Penrice’s contribution also deserves recognition. The decision to start him was one of several choices that McInnes made which raised eyebrows beforehand, and it paid off handsomely. That selection proved significant when Penrice supplied the ball for the only goal. The cross itself was simple but perfectly weighted, hit low and hard across the area where Naderi could attack it. Those are the sort of deliveries that are difficult for defenders and goalkeepers to deal with, and they reflect a player who understood exactly what the team needed at that moment. Penrice would have been among the better performers on the night, and the assist makes him a strong candidate for a high mark.

The manager’s other big decisions were equally interesting. Captain Dan Neil had spoken before the match about his excitement at leading the side out at Hampden for the first time, but McInnes left him on the bench, and Nicolas Raskin was handed the armband instead. It was a bold call, and one that could easily have backfired. Neil has been one of Rangers’ best performers recently, scoring twice against Celtic in the quarter-final, and omitting him from a semi-final was a risk. But McInnes clearly felt that Raskin’s composure and experience suited the occasion, and there is some logic to that. In a tense game with little space, a calm passer in the middle is often more valuable than a player who thrives on late runs.

Raskin’s performance as captain will be of particular interest to anyone following his future at the club. He has been the subject of constant transfer speculation, and reports earlier this week suggested that he had changed his mind about leaving in January. Being handed the armband for a semi-final is a significant show of trust, and he appeared to respond with a disciplined, professional display. He would not have produced the headlines, but a steady performance in the middle of the park that helped Rangers control possession and avoid mistakes was precisely what was required. A rating of seven or thereabouts would have been appropriate for a player who did the basics well.

The other significant selection decision was on the right flank, where Djeidi Gassama was dropped in favour of Badredine Bouanani. That was the change that most observers had been predicting, and it proved to be a sensible one. Bouanani’s technical quality and his ability to pick out a pass were useful against a deep-sitting defence, and he gave Rangers a creative option that they had lacked at Tynecastle. He was withdrawn late in the game, along with Kelsy, in what appeared to be a tactical move to protect the lead, but his contribution over the earlier stages was solid. The game was not one for dazzling individual performances, but he did enough to justify the manager’s faith.

It was also a night on which the defence came under scrutiny, particularly given the criticism of Emmanuel Fernandez in recent weeks. McInnes had defended him robustly, and the centre-back responded by playing in a team that kept a clean sheet. He did pick up a booking late on, in the final minute, but that is the sort of caution that is understandable when a team is trying to see out a result. Alongside him, Olwethu Makhanya was part of a back line that had to deal with Aberdeen’s occasional counter-attacks and set-pieces, and the fact that the Dons did not score says plenty about how well the unit worked. A clean sheet in a semi-final is always worth a good mark.

Dujon Sterling was also booked, in the forty-first minute, and the caution was an example of how physical and edgy the game became. Aberdeen’s players had been cautioned as well, with Emmanuel Gyamfi going into the book early on, and the referee had a busy evening. The tension was visible in every challenge, and there were several moments where tempers threatened to boil over. In a game like that, discipline matters, and the teams that kept their heads were more likely to come out on top. Rangers managed to do that, even though a couple of players walked a fine line.

Tuur Rommens was substituted in the sixty-fifth minute, which was an early change that suggested McInnes wanted to alter the balance of the team. The Belgian had been brought into the side as part of the manager’s reshuffle, and his withdrawal reflected the need for fresh energy as the game dragged on. It is not necessarily a criticism of his performance, because managers often make changes to refresh the legs or alter the tactical structure. But it does point to the fact that the match was not flowing in the way Rangers had hoped, and that the manager was searching for a solution.

On the Aberdeen side, the picture was one of resilience and frustration. Marius Müller was the goalkeeper who was eventually beaten by Naderi’s finish, and he will feel that there was little he could have done about the shot, which was struck from close range after a deflected delivery into the box. Before that, he had been part of a defensive unit that had done its job for the best part of eighty minutes. Captain Kristoffer Nisbet marshalled the back line, and the Dons had refused to allow Rangers to settle. For a team in poor form and dealing with injury problems, it was a respectable effort, and it came close to being enough.

Aberdeen’s attacking threat was limited, which is part of the reason the game was so turgid. Their forwards had few opportunities to test Ivor Pandur, and a lack of creativity in the final third meant that they struggled to build any momentum. Alexander Mouloua was substituted in the fifty-fifth minute, which gives some sense of how their attacking plan was working. They were set up to defend and counter, and when the counters did not materialise, they were left relying on set-pieces and long balls. That is a difficult way to win a semi-final, and it ultimately cost them. They will feel they had a chance but lacked the quality to take it.

For Robinson, the result was another disappointment in a difficult spell. The Dons have lost four of their last five matches in all competitions, and the pressure on the manager is growing. The semi-final offered a chance to turn things around, and a place in the final would have given the club a huge lift. Instead, they were left to reflect on another frustrating evening after falling short in their bid to reach a second successive League Cup final. It is the sort of result that can damage confidence, and it will be interesting to see how the team responds in the coming weeks. Robinson has a good record in cup competitions, but he will need a change in league form to ease the scrutiny.

Taking the broader view, this was a win built on discipline rather than flair. Rangers did not play well, and they will know that. They struggled for fluency in the first half, they created few clear chances, and they were fortunate that Aberdeen did not take advantage of the opportunities that arose. But they stayed patient, kept pressing and took their chance when it arrived. That is the mark of a team that knows how to win cup ties, and it reflects the mentality that McInnes has been trying to instil since he took over. Style points do not matter when the prize is a place in a final.

There is also an argument that the performance showed a different kind of character from the one that was questioned after the draw at Hearts. Olwethu Makhanya had talked about a lack of character in the second half at Tynecastle, and McInnes had pushed back. On Saturday, the team responded by grinding out a result in a game where they were under pressure for long periods. They did not panic, they did not lose their shape, and they kept going until the goal came. That kind of resilience is exactly what McInnes had been talking about, and the semi-final gave him a perfect example to point to.

The challenge now is to build on it. The final in December will be a very different occasion, with either Hearts or Hibernian waiting after Sunday’s second semi-final. Both teams will be tougher opponents than Aberdeen, and both will be confident of their chances. Hearts, in particular, have already shown that they can match Rangers, and a final against McInnes’s former club would carry enormous emotional weight. Hibs, meanwhile, will fancy their chances of springing a surprise. Either way, Rangers will need to be much better than they were on Saturday if they want to end the drought.

That said, the squad has plenty of reasons to be optimistic. The win keeps alive their hopes of winning the trophy for the first time since 2023, and it gives McInnes a platform on which to build. A cup final is a different kind of challenge, and the experience of reaching it will be valuable for the younger players. The manager will also have the benefit of several weeks to prepare, and he will be able to use that time to address the weaknesses that were exposed on Saturday. If the team can improve its creativity and maintain its defensive solidity, it will be a formidable opponent.

In the end, the evening was a reminder of why cup football is so compelling. It rewards persistence, punishes mistakes and often produces results that defy the flow of the game. Rangers were not the better team for most of the match, but they were the one that took its chance, and that is all that counts. Naderi’s goal will be remembered long after the details of the performance have faded, and the 8/10 that he earned for his efforts reflects a player who did his job when it mattered. For Rangers, the dream of silverware is alive, and for Aberdeen, there is only the long walk home from Hampde