Curtis Main at the double in stunning victory over Aberdeen

William Hill Scottish Cup Semi-Final
Motherwell 3-0 Aberdeen
Saturday, 14 April 2018, kick-off 12.15pm
Hampden Park Glasgow

Motherwell: Curtis Main (19, 66), Ryan Bowman (22)

Motherwell are in their second showpiece final of the season, after comfortably defeating Aberdeen 3-0.

Two goals from Curtis Main along with a Ryan Bowman strike took advantage of some shaky Aberdeen defending and allowed them to romp to a deserving victory.

Motherwell will now play either Celtic or Rangers on Saturday, 19 May.

How the match played out

There was a slow start to proceedings with the first chance not arriving until 12 minutes in when Andrew Rose blasted the ball over the bar.

After 19 minutes, Motherwell took the lead. A long ball from Trevor Carson found Richard Tait who was able to drive into the box and pass to Curtis Main. He then bundled the ball over the line.

Just three minutes later and Motherwell were two goals in front. Another long ball wasn’t dealt with by Scott McKenna and Ryan Bowman outmuscled Anthony O’Connor to shoot at Joe Lewis.

The ball rebounded off the goalkeeper back to the striker and he was able to trundle the ball into the net.

Aberdeen threatened little in the first half apart from a Stevie May shot which bounced just by the post.

At the break Motherwell were comfortably 2-0 in front.

In the second half, Adam Rooney tested Trevor Carson after 60 minutes to liven up proceedings after a fairly quiet opening to the second period.

Curtis Main made it three for Motherwell after 66 minutes when the striker, who joined Motherwell in January, shut down a Kari Arnason clearance, before racing through on goal and slotting beyond Joe Lewis.

Man of the Match

Curtis Main ran the Aberdeen defence ragged throughout and capitalised on some hesitant Dons’ defending.

His first goal was striker’s instinct but with his second, he showed determination to rob Arnason of the ball as well as composure to slot beyond Joe Lewis.

Key stats

Possession: Motherwell 51% Aberdeen 49% 
Total shots: Motherwell 7 Aberdeen 16
Fouls: Motherwell 16 Aberdeen 8

Post-match thoughts

Highlights

Line-ups

Motherwell: Trevor Carson, Richard Tait (Captain), Liam Grimshaw (Ross MacLean, 88), Chris Cadden, Curtis Main (George Newell, 85), Ryan Bowman (Nadir Ciftci, 78), Andrew Rose, Charles Dunne, Tom Aldred, Cedric Kipre, Allan Campbell

Unused substitutes: Russell Griffiths, Gael Bigirimana, Elliot Fear, Barry McGuire

Aberdeen: Joe Lewis, Dominic Ball (Niall McGinn, 60), Kari Arnason, Andy Considine, Anthony O’Connor, Scott McKenna (Captain), Chidiebere Nwakali (Gary Mackay-Steven, 43), Ryan Christie, Greg Stewart, Adam Rooney (Sam Cosgrove, 78) Stevie May

Unused substitutes: Freddie Woodman, Mark Reynolds, Dean Campbell, Scott Wright

Match officials

Referee: Kevin Clancy
Assistant Referees: Douglas Ross & David Roome
Fourth Official: Greg Aitken
Additional Assistants: Andrew Dallas & Alan Muir

Attendance

18,470