Aberdeen hammer The Spartans to ease into Premier Sports Cup semi-finals

Aberdeen eased their way into the semi-finals of the Premier Sports Cup with a dominant 4-0 win over League Two side The Spartans.

Pape Habib Gueye was nicely placed to fire home after a kind ricochet to open the scoring, and Kevin Nisbet tapped in a second just before the break.

Leighton Clarkson headed a third a minute after the restart, with Ester Sokler forcing home a fourth.

Boasting a 100 per cent record in their previous 10 matches under Swedish boss Jimmy Thelin, the Dons resisted the urge to make wholesale changes against lowly opposition, Clarkson’s return to the starting XI the only alteration to the team that had beaten Motherwell last week.

Dougie Samuel’s side showed four changes from their midweek draw with Elgin City, and they were on the ropes almost from kick-off.

Sivert Heltne Nilsen saw an early shot deflected for a corner amid claims of handball, and the Norwegian turned provider with a flick over the defence for Nisbet, only for Blair Carswell to quickly smother.

The deadlock was broken after 14 minutes when James Craigen’s superbly-timed challenge on Gueye led to a corner. Clarkson’s deep delivery was worked to Ante Palaversa on the edge of the box, and when his shot ricocheted off two Spartans defenders, Gueye pounced to fire home.

Aberdeen’s best work was down the left and Jack MacKenzie was having a field day, Nisbet somehow failing to connect with one of his crosses, before Jamie McGrath hit wide from another MacKenzie assist.

Nisbet must have been thinking it was not to be his afternoon when he could only flick a superb ball from Palaversa into Carswell’s hands, minutes before Clarkson sent a free-kick into the side-netting.

But the on-loan Millwall striker finally got his name on the scoresheet a minute before the break as goalkeeper Carswell and defender Kevin Waugh left another MacKenzie cross to each other, Nisbet bundling home from a couple of yards out.

It would be 3-0 a minute after the break as Slobodan Rubezic curled a superb cross deep into the box, for the returning Clarkson to nod past Carswell from six yards.

The game seemingly beyond doubt, both teams made a slew of changes, and it was substitute Graeme Shinnie who would have the next chance, forcing Carswell into a diving stop after Nicky Devlin’s cutback.

A fourth goal would follow as MacKenzie again supplied a low ball from the left, with Sokler sliding in to squeeze the ball home under the body of Carswell.

Having been creating chances all night, MacKenzie finally got to let fly himself in the closing stages, hitting narrowly wide of the far post after Clarkson’s neat pass created the opening.

And the visitors created a late chance for themselves, Brogan Walls’ effort from the edge of the area forcing a fingertip save from the otherwise untroubled Dimitar Mitov.