Rangers cruised to a 3-0 home win over arch-rivals Celtic as they booked a Premier Sports Cup semi-final spot.
Derek McInnes’ men were well worthy of the victory with captain Dan Neil scoring twice either side of Kevin Kelsy’s emphatic strike in front of 50,000 home fans – no away supporters were in attendance owing to a temporary ban.
Neil’s first goal was a fine strike from just outside the area midway through the first half. A second arrived just before the hour mark as Kelsy smashed home from close range. Neil then added gloss with his second, from a similar area to his first but an even better finish as he guided a shot into the top corner.
Jubilant Gers’ chief McInnes said afterwards: “It was the performance and result we were all looking for. The game demanded a big performance and I thought we delivered on that. It’s a good reference point for my players.
“They’re a young squad and they saw how much that result means to the supporters.”
Rangers will now play Aberdeen in the semi-finals after the Dons overcame Kilmarnock on penalties after the game finished 1-1 in normal time.
They took the lead through Kevin Nisbet only to go down to ten men when Dan Happe was sent off. Killie drew level when Tyreece John-Jules headed home. Neither side could edge it before spot-kicks and it was Aberdeen who won it, 3-1 in the shoot-out.
The other semi-final will see Edinburgh rivals Hearts and Hibernian face off. Hearts romped to a 3-0 away win at second tier Stenhousemuir on Friday night with goals from JJ Williams, Rogers Mato and Yan Dhanda.
Hibs eased to the same scoreline away at Ross County, with all three goals coming in the first half: Thibault Klidje, Adam Mayor (penalty) and Ante Suto all getting on the scoresheet. That win lightens the load on under-fire head coach David Gray, who said afterwards: “I’m delighted for the players, they fully deserved it for what they put in today. It was a really difficult situation when you think about the noise before the game and playing against a side that are in my view, in a false position, in terms of the quality they’ve got.”
The semi-finals will take place at Hampden Park on the weekend of October 31 November 1.
