Aberdeen captain Anthony Stewart’s red card has dominated the headlines following his side’s League Cup semi-final defeat to Rangers, but the Dons skipper does not deserve to be the Hampden fall guy.
Stewart can have no complaints about being sent off. His challenge on Fashion Sakala of Rangers in injury time was rash and the red card was deserved.
But did he cost his side the game? I’m not so sure.
I’ve been in plenty dressing rooms in my career where a player has been sent off and I can tell you from experience nobody hurts more than the offender.
Stewart will be replaying the incident over and over again in his head, wondering why he did not show Sakala down the line and stay on his feet.
But he can’t change what happened. All he can do is show he has learned from it.
When a central defender is sent off in a game it tends to be the toughest gap to fill for a team.
In Aberdeen’s case, it led to a reshuffle with Ross McCrorie moving to centre-half, while Matty Kennedy dropped back to right back.
Rangers had the guile to take advantage of the changes as they quickly scored the winner early in extra-time through Kemar Roofe.
The Dons will wonder what might have been, but Aberdeen should take heart from the fact they played really well at Hampden.
Aberdeen gave as good as they got in the first half and Matty Kennedy and Bojan Miovski showed great game intelligence to turn what would have been a clear offside into a great piece of play for the opening goal.
But Rangers pushed the Dons back in the second half, and it did feel as if the equaliser was coming before Ryan Jack’s deflected effort broke Aberdeen’s resistance to take the tie to extra-time.
Dons must take positives from Hampden showing
Despite losing the game, it did feel as if the match was a step in the right direction for manager Jim Goodwin and his players in terms of how they approached the game and pushed Rangers to the very end of 120 minutes.
Their efforts with 10 men in extra-time were admirable, too, but over the piece, despite the Dons putting on a good show, I think Rangers had that little bit more quality.
That should not detract from the contribution made by my old club, of course. After all, it takes two teams to make a game a thrilling contest and Aberdeen certainly played their part.
The Dons fans will be bitterly disappointed to lose the game, but they will be proud of how their team performed and it is vital the players pick themselves up and go again against Hearts at Tynecastle tomorrow.
It is another big game and, while a big result may not earn a cup final appearance, it will certainly galvanise the players and fans for the second half of the season.
Will Hiwula’s strike be turning point in Ross County’s season?
Time will tell how important Jordy Hiwula’s equaliser for Ross County at Motherwell was, but it certainly feels like it was a vital goal for the Staggies.
In a game the Staggies dared not lose, they were facing that very scenario with 10 minutes remaining at Fir Park until Hiwula came off the bench to earn his side a point.
The result means Malky Mackay’s side are within three points of Kilmarnock, Dundee United and Well, but with County having played a game more than their rivals at the bottom of the Premiership, they badly need to pick up points on a regular basis.
It has been a tough season for County and every week feels like a real battle in the ultra-competitive Premiership.
It will be interesting to see if a break from league duty for Saturday’s Scottish Cup tie at Hamilton Accies provides a welcome short in the arm.
It will be tough, though.
Accies have struggled badly in the Championship this season, but they will fancy their chances at home against a Staggies team who have taken two points from a possible 21 in the league.
Same again please – only give me some goals this time
It’s as you were for Caley Thistle in the Championship following a weekend of draws in the second tier.
Hamilton were the only side to pick up three points in the division, with their win against Morton allowing Inverness to move level with the Ton thanks to a goalless draw at home to league leaders Queen’s Park.
The game at Caledonian Stadium may not have produced any goals, but as goalless draws go it was a decent game.
Billy Dodds has got Caley Jags going again and there is much more fluency and confidence about their play, although I think they might have left themselves too much ground to make up in terms of their prospects of winning the title.
But I’m expecting a thriller when they welcome the Spiders back to the Highlands on Scottish Cup duty this weekend.
A cup run would be most welcome for Caley Thistle in the second half of the season.
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