Derek McInnes has pointed to the return of Celtic striker Odsonne Edouard as a key reason why his Aberdeen side lost today’s Scottish Cup semi-final, BBC Scotland reports.
Neil Lennon’s Bhoys ran out 2-0 winners after an impressive first-half performance provided the cushion needed to progress into December’s final.
Celtic looked more threatening and more composed than last week’s trip to Pittodrie.
McInnes has admitted the presence of Edouard in today’s line-up, and his subsequent movement in the game frightened his defenders.
Speaking to BBC Scotland, the Dons boss said: “The better team in the first opening period won the game. We had some good moments to score first and that’s important against a team like Celtic.
“I thought Matty Kennedy started brilliantly on the left-hand side and put in a couple of good crosses. If Sam Cosgrove had been more match ready, he might have taken them.
“The trade-off with so many attacking players in the team is that you have to deal with the threat of [Mohamed] Elyounoussi, [Tom] Rogic, [Ryan] Christie and [Odsonne] Edouard and probably for a 10 to 15-minute spell we never quite managed that.
“Their movement spooked us a wee bit more than it did last week and I think Edouard is a big part of that. I don’t think we quite dealt with that.”
Lennon could have easily made the call to play Albian Ajeti or Leigh Griffiths today, knowing he probably wouldn’t get a full 90 minutes out of the Frenchman.
It sounds like the manager got his team selection and tactics spot on though, putting Aberdeen on the backfoot and forcing them to deal with more problems than last week’s league match.
Edouard didn’t have a dynamite game today, but he is still building match fitness after his COVID-19 diagnosis, and his mere presence in the team clearly upsets opposition defences.
Hopefully, he can find the form that has made him such a sensation in the Hoops and delivers goal output as well as a constant attacking threat.
In other news, fans were left in awe of Tom Rogic’s performance at Hampden today.
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