Gutted Peter Leven gives Aberdeen players strong message and has say on two Celtic penalty incidents

Dons boss says the standard has been set by their performance at Hampden

Interim Aberdeen manager Peter Leven hailed his players and said they have set the standard going forward after the Dons narrowly missed out on reaching the Scottish Cup final.

Celtic prevailed 6-5 on penalties following a 3-3 draw at Hampden. Bojan Miovski put Aberdeen ahead early on in Saturday’s semi-final but Nicolas Kuhn levelled and then James Forrest put the holders ahead on 63 minutes. Ester Sokler forced extra time with his own late equaliser before Matt O’Riley and Angus MacDonald traded goals ahead of penalties. In the shoot-out, Killian Phillips was the fall guy, Joe Hart saving his effort to force a painful end to the afternoon for Leven and his players.

Aberdeen, who are only five points ahead of 11th-placed Ross County going into the five post-split Premiership fixtures, take on Motherwell at Pittodrie next Saturday as they look to confirm safety. “I’m gutted,” said Leven. “Penalties is a terrible way to lose. But I thought the boys were brilliant. We were great today, we created very good chances against a very good tram. I’m so proud of them. They all gave everything. It’s close on our 50th game of the season because we were in Europe and some of them haven’t been involved in that many before.

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - APRIL 20: Aberdeen Interim Manager Peter Leven during a Scottish Gas Scottish Cup semi-final match between Aberdeen and Celtic at Hampden Park, on April 20, 2024, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

“You saw it, they were cramping up. We lost Bojan Miovski that way, they all ran themselves into the ground. We had desire, a great attitude and at times we were right at Celtic. Yes, in the first 20 minutes of the second half they pinned us back and we had to adjust to deal with that. But to come back time and again, to create the chances we did … well, it’s tough to end up losing."

Aberdeen confirmed earlier this week that Swedish manager Jimmy Thelin, currently at Elfsborg, will take over in June. Leven revealed that there had been contact prior to the match. “Jimmy texted me last night wishing us good luck,” he said. “I don’t think his game is until Sunday, so I presume he’ll have been watching. I told the players at the end, that’s the standards now. Pick your heads up for five massive league games. We refresh and we go again on Monday.”

Leven was also asked about an incident in extra time where Aberdeen claimed for a penalty when Cameron Carter-Vickers caught substitute Junior Hoilett. “The fourth official said it was a penalty, but there might have been a collision before it, which is what seems to have been given in the end.” On a Liam Scales handball claim, he added: “With the one in the first half, I thought it was a handball, but it seems it wasn’t in the box.”