United prove to be big men for big occasion

Defenders Darren Dods and Christian Kalvenes secured the lead for United from set pieces after Andrew Considine had given Aberdeen the lead. By the time Craig Conway showed good balance to score the first goal of the semi-final from open play, Aberdeen were reeling and went down for the count after Lee Miller was sent off. Morgaro Gomis rubbed it in with a fourth goal which exploited a misunderstanding in the Aberdeen defence.

Jamie Langfield had a night to forget and the Aberdeen goalkeeper was hardly helped to feel at ease after spectators at the United end of the ground threw objects on to the pitch when the tie was evenly balanced at 1-1. Langfield wasn't hurt or hit, but this kind of extraneous activity designed to unnerve opposition players isn't tolerated by Uefa and should have no place here either.

Apart from an inconsistent performance from referee Iain Brines, who got an awful lot of straightforward decisions wrong, this was an entertaining cup tie in which all concerned approached the semi-final in a positive manner. It was an open, lively contest from first to last which offered a stark contrast with so many nerve-ridden semi-finals of the past.

The recent lack of appetite for domestic cup football – attendances at fifth-round Scottish Cup ties were also dire over the weekend – was reflected in a turn-out which failed to fill Tynecastle for a match that offered a gateway to the final of a major competition both clubs dearly wanted to win. Although the supporters offered rousing encouragement to the players throughout the tie, there were plenty of empty seats.

If United had been unimpressive in Scottish Cup action on Saturday, Aberdeen also stuttered against Hamilton. They must have been as encouraged, however, as United were disappointed by last week's postponement which eliminated Barry Robson, now on the books at Celtic Park, from Craig Levein's plans. After all, United had defeated Aberdeen as recently as 3-0 last month, with Robson scoring twice.

Having watched his players toil without Robson at Love Street in a tie St Mirren should have won, Levein started with a 4-4-2 formation rather than 4-5-1. This meant Mark De Vries started a game for United for the first time on the ground where he famously scored four times on his home debut for Hearts in the Edinburgh derby.

United dominated the early exchanges, but there was a shift in command in the 18th minute when Aberdeen took the lead from a set piece. Barry Nicholson fired the corner kick into the penalty box, where Zander Diamond towered above the rest. His header wasn't held by Lukasz Zaluska and Considine was on hand to bundle the loose ball into the net from six yards.

This was rough justice for United who, to their credit, didn't let their heads drop and were back on level terms within five minutes of falling behind. Again the goal came from a set piece. Kalvenes, United's left-back, sent a tempting free-kick from the right touchline towards the near post, where Dods got in front of the marker and nodded past Langfield from point-blank range. The scene was now set for an absorbing contest as the half ended with both sides using direct tactics to create chances on a slippery surface.

Although the relentless sweep of the tie was from back to front, there were occasional glimpsed of subtlety in midfield. Gomis was at the heart of the action for United while Nicholson did his best to cajole Aberdeen.

The atmosphere turned ugly in the 53rd minute when referee Brines had to stop the action after objects, including a plastic cup, were thrown from the Dundee United end of the ground at Langfield in the Aberdeen goal. A large number of security men then arrived to patrol the front of Tynecastle's school end stand.

The most likely s
ource of another goal was from a set-piece, and United duly grabbed their chance in the 59th minute after Conway curved a fine corner kick into the box and Kalvenes powered a header into the net through a forest of bodies.

Having got their noses in front, United must have felt they had one foot in the final after Conway scored the first goal of the night from outfield play after 65 minutes. Mark Kerr supplied the through pass, De Vries added the flick-on and Conway went round Langfield before steering the ball into the net.

If Aberdeen still nurtured hopes of a fight-back, their dreams evaporated when Miller was sent off for a second bookable offence after a clash with Zaluska.

Already on the way out, Aberdeen cut their own throats at United's fourth goal when Severin's back-pass to Langfield saw the goalkeeper lose possession to Gomis, who accepted the gift with glee.

Taken from the Scotsman