Dons stunned by Celtic leveller

Aberdeen 1-1 Celtic:A dramatic injury-time equaliser from Celtic striker Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink rescued a replay for the Parkhead side in their Scottish Cup quarter-final tie  against Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

With 11 minutes remaining, Dons midfielder Jeffrey de Visscher linked up with Lee Miller on the edge of the box before driving low past Hoops keeper Artur Boruc.

It looked like the Dons would be meeting First Division side Queen of the South in the semi-finals next month but a minute into injury time Dutchman Vennegoor of Hesselink prodded in a cross from substitute Georgios Samaras, who had come on earlier for Scott McDonald.

It was a deserved equaliser for the visitors, who had struck the post three times and squandered several chances during the 90 minutes but tough luck for the Dons, who had one eye on the semi-final spot when they conceded the late goal.

Aberdeen, without a win in their previous eight games — including a 5-1 SPL defeat by the Hoops, had it all to do against the cup holders but they made an encouraging start and had a Miller goal disallowed for offside.

Moments later a crunching tackle by Karim Touzani on Ireland's Darren O'Dea favoured the home side and Maguire fired his angled shot from 15 yards wide of the target.

At the other end, Vennegoor of Hesselink headed Paul Hartley's free-kick from deep onto the top of the net and from around that point, the game swung in favour of the visitors.

In the 20th minute, McDonald had the ball in the net from an Aiden McGeady cross but he too was correctly flagged offside.  Three minutes later his near-post flick from Andreas Hinkel's cross beat Derek Soutar but rebounded off the post, with the Dons keeper having to claw away Vennegoor of Hesselink's close-range header seconds later.

In the 40th minute, as the cup holders pressed for the opener, the home side were saved by the woodwork again. O'Dea forged his way down the left and his cross was met by Vennegoor of Hesselink, who glanced a header against the far post before McDonald, standing right in front of goal, failed to net the rebound.

Celtic took minutes to threaten after the break and when McGeady bolted from his own half to set up a counter, Celtic midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura made his first real contribution when he latched on to Vennegoor of Hesselink's pass but Soutar who read the shot, diving to his right to knock the ball away and the danger was eventually cleared.

Moments later, with Celtic swarming around the Pittodrie box, Soutar brilliantly parried Evander Sno's powerful drive from the edge of the box up into the air and was in place to save Celtic skipper Stephen McManus's drive.

Aberdeen fought back and in the 79th minute grabbed the crucial opener when de Visscher worked a one-two with Miller on the edge of the box before rifling a low drive past Boruc.

Hartley rattled the post with a drive from 35 yards as Celtic stormed back but there was time for Boruc to pull off another great save from Dons skipper Scott Severin.

But in the first minute of injury time Celtic scored the equaliser when Samaras crossed for Vennegoor of Hesselink to prod in from a couple of yards out.