Aberdeen beat nine-man Hearts to reach Scottish Cup final

GALASGOW: Oday Dabbagh scored a late extra-time winner as Aberdeen eventually ground down nine-man Hearts to win 2-1 on Saturday and reach the Scottish Cup final.

The Dons struck first against the run of play when Pape Gueye’s header came back off the crossbar and ricocheted into his own net off the back of 42-year-old Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon.

Hearts levelled in the 28th minute when captain Lawrence Shankland met James Penrice’s cross from the left, took a touch and rifled a clinical finish through the legs of Dimitar Mitov.

The Edinburgh side suffered a huge blow a minute before the break when Michael Steinwender was shown a straight red after bringing down Topi Keskinen.

But the 10 men held out for well over an hour against an Aberdeen side lacking in invention.

Hearts’ task got even tougher when Cammy Devlin was shown a second yellow card with four minutes left of extra-time.

Aberdeen swiftly took advantage to reach their first Scottish Cup final in eight years when Dabbagh fired in the rebound after Jack Milne’s shot was saved by Gordon.

Jimmy Thelin’s side will face the winner of Sunday’s semi-final between Celtic and St Johnstone at Hampden on May 25.