Regan Charles-Cook scored a memorable first goal for Motherwell to take their early promise under Jens Berthel Askou up a notch and book a trip to Hampden following a 1-0 win at Aberdeen.
Charles-Cook’s swerving long-range strike in the second half at Pittodrie proved enough to earn a Premier Sports Cup semi-final place and continue Aberdeen’s miserable start to the season.
The Scottish Cup holders were looking for a break from their league form, which leaves them bottom of the William Hill Premiership without a goal.
But, despite making a decent start and hitting the bar twice, they suffered a fifth defeat of the season to leave manager Jimmy Thelin under pressure.
A crowd of 10,533 was evidence of a lack of belief among the home support and the final whistle was met with resignation as much as anger.
In contrast, a healthy travelling contingent celebrated with their players and Askou, who remains unbeaten as Motherwell manager, as they sealed their semi-final spot for a second year running.
Thelin handed Stuart Armstrong a first start in central midfield as the more defensive-minded Sivert Nilsen dropped to the bench but the Scotland international will need more game time to make a true impact.
Charles-Cook’s swerved effort piled onto Aberdeen’s miserable start to the season
The Dons enjoyed much the better of the territory in the first quarter but could not test Calum Ward from several efforts.
Motherwell were without Elijah Just and they initially struggled to enjoy possession outside their own half.
They began to create chances when they found a way to get Charles-Cook on the ball and the former Ross County man was at the heart of their best attacking play in the first half.
The winger set up Tawanda Maswanhise, who cracked the ball off the post before Ibrahim Said shot well over from the rebound.
The Steelmen secured their first cup win at Pittodrie since 1991
Charles-Cook then won a corner which led to Stephen O’Donnell seeing his header brilliantly hooked off the line by Adil Aouchiche.
Aberdeen’s best first-half chance fell to Mats Knoester following Aouchiche’s free-kick but the defender hit the bar from six yards.
Motherwell soon had an equally good chance when some one-touch play sent Apostolos Stamatelopoulos clear in the right channel. The Australian squared for Charles-Cook but Dimitar Mitov spread himself to block the shot from 10 yards.
The visitors continued to grow after the interval and got the breakthrough in the 63rd minute. Emmanuel Longelo teed up Charles-Cook to shoot first time in off the post from 22 yards.
Thelin sent on Marko Lazetic to join Kevin Nisbet up front but Motherwell created a good chance to finish the game off with five minutes left when Stamatelopoulos headed wide from Maswanhise’s cross after a slick move.
Aberdeen were toiling but they were handed a late chance to test the Motherwell defence when Longelo conceded a corner under no pressure.
The Dons almost took it as substitute Nicky Devlin met Jesper Karlsson’s near-post delivery and guided a header past Ward only to see it bounce away off the underside of the bar.
The Steelmen survived more aerial pressure to secure their first cup win at Pittodrie since knocking out the then-Scottish Cup holders on their way to their last piece of silverware in 1991.
