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Jimmy Thelin insists there is no shame in celebrating a late victory against nine-man Hearts as Aberdeen eventually found a way past their obstinate opponents to reach the Scottish Cup final. The Pittodrie side toiled to breakdown Hearts, who were reduced to ten men shortly before half time after Michael Steinwender was shown a straight red card for pulling down Tepi Keskinen as he advanced on goal. The teams were drawing 1-1 at this stage. An own goal from an unknowing Craig Gordon after Pepe Gueye's header rebounded off the crossbar and hit the goalkeeper saw Aberdeen take the lead. Hearts skipper Lawrence Shankland equalised just before the half-hour mark with a drilled effort through Dimitar Mitov's legs. Aberdeen substitute Oday Dabbagh pounced to score the winner two minutes from the end of extra-time to book a return visit to Hampden next month. Hearts had already had another player sent off when Cammy Devlin picked up a second yellow card for clipping Dante Polvara. Aberdeen prevailed and will now play either Celtic or St Johnstone in the final on 24 May. It is Thelin’s first such showpiece occasion and he was understandably unconcerned about the manner of the victory. His Aberdeen side fell short at the last four stage against Celtic in the League Cup earlier this season and he lost two semi-finals as a manager in Sweden. Thelin praised his players for their game management with the memory of last Sunday’s capitulation against Rangers, when they lost a two-goal lead against ten men, so fresh. “Hearts started really well and we were under pressure,” said the manager. “Of course the red card helped but we also know from experience that when a team gets one man down, it’s less space top play in and is quite difficult. Counter-attacks can happen against you and you have to concentrate. We learned from lessons from last week. We kept pushing and adding fresh players. The subs added energy and finally we had that extra punch to win the game. So now we have to celebrate today!” The players and management frolicked in front of the 13,000 Aberdeen supporters after the final whistle at the end of an exacting 120 minutes. “You can hear the supporters, players and staff afterwards - we’re so connected and wanted this so much,” said Thelin. “For me, it means a lot. It doesn’t matter how you win a semi-final, you just have to win. And now that we’re there, we have to do our best to try and win it. “As a manager or player, you don’t get many chances to arrive in a big cup final - or be challenging at the top of the league. So we have to enjoy it and keep fighting for it.” “Sometimes when you have an extra man and people expect you to win - you have to live games like that to learn,” he added. “We weren’t as exposed today compared to last week and we didn’t force it. We played a bit more maturely and better as a team. We didn’t get stressed. We didn’t want penalties so we forced it and we’re happy. "Everyone contributed a lot. It’s my first cup final as a manager after having some semi-finals, so it’s nice. When we get there, we’ll try to win it. “A final is a final - you never know because it’s about more than just football on that day. It’s emotions, expectations, everything around it. That’s why cup games are so difficult. “Look at the results this year, it’s more than just a league game. You have to manage the emotions but the best way to do that is to live it as many times as possible."
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