Ryan Naderi settled a tight semi-final in the 83rd minute as Rangers beat Aberdeen 1-0 at Hampden and moved into the Premier Sports Cup final. The game never looked comfortable for either side for long spells, and the winner arrived only after a first half that offered very little quality. Aberdeen limited Rangers to one shot on target before the break.
Rangers had to wait for the breakthrough
The winning move came late enough to suit Rangers, but it was not a flowing finish to a one-sided game. Naderi's goal was his fifth of the 2026 Premiership season, and it fitted the pattern of his year, with three assists and a 7.37 average rating in league play.
That return matters because Rangers needed someone to decide a match that stayed awkward for most of the night. James Penrice supplied the assist for the winner, his first league assist of the season, and that was a reminder that the decisive moment did not have to come from a usual source.
Aberdeen's patched-up defence still made it hard
Aberdeen arrived with five defenders missing through suspension or injury, Lewis Mayo, Mats Knoester, Dan Happe, Kristers Tobers and Chris Cadden. Nicky Devlin made his first start of the season, which underlined how stretched the back line was before kick-off.
Even so, they kept Rangers in check for long periods and made the first half messy enough to keep the score level. The wider issue was whether that resistance could last for 90 minutes, and once Naderi found the only goal of the match, it could not.
The final is set for 13 December, when Rangers will face Hearts or Hibernian.
Written by Sam Whitfield with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →
