Naderi breaks Aberdeen's resistance late on

Rangers go through 1-0, and on the balance of chances created, that scoreline flatters nobody more than it flatters Rangers themselves. Aberdeen set up to frustrate rather than to win, and for long spells it worked exactly as McInnes would have wanted.

A game with little to show for it

This was not a semi-final that will live long in the memory for quality. Both sides struggled to build any sustained rhythm, and Rangers in particular found Aberdeen's low block difficult to break down. Clear-cut chances were scarce throughout, with the away side content to absorb pressure and look for moments on the counter rather than chase the game.

That approach nearly got Aberdeen to penalties, or at least to a nervy finish where anything could happen. Instead, Naderi had other ideas.

The moment that decided it

There's no dressing up what Naderi did: he found a late opening when Aberdeen's resistance was at its most tired, and he took it. In a match starved of genuine quality, one moment of composure from a Rangers player was always going to be the difference, and it arrived just when Aberdeen's back line looked set to hold out.

That's the cruelty of cup football at this stage. Aberdeen did almost everything McInnes asked of them defensively, restricting Rangers to scraps for most of the afternoon, and still went home with nothing to show for it.

What it means for Rangers

A place in the Premier Sports Cup final is a place in the Premier Sports Cup final, regardless of how scrappy the route there looked. Rangers won't care how it happened, only that Naderi's intervention got them through a semi-final that threatened to drag into territory where anything could have decided it.

For Aberdeen, there will be regret rather than embarrassment. McInnes set his team up to make life difficult, and for most of the ninety minutes they did exactly that. In the end, a cagey afternoon came down to one Rangers player finding a late answer that Aberdeen couldn't find a response to.