Football News

Aberdeen head through

Aberdeen head through


A heroic performance from Aberdeen last night saw them beat Dnipro on the away goals rule. The 1-1 score was enough to see the Dons progress to the UEFA Cup group stages, after their 0-0 draw at Pittodrie.

It was, in truth, a game which the Ukrainians dominated from start to finish. Aberdeen's first touch of the ball was 2 minutes in when Zander Diamond blocked a shot. From the resultant corner, Jamie Langfield pulled off a superb save, of what was to be a first of many.

Against the run of play, it was the Scottish side that made the breakthrough. Richard Foster chipped the ball over the opposing full back, before cutting it back to Darren Mackie to head home.

It was his first game since August, and he justified his selection perfectly with a well taken goal, and a crucial away one at that.

This stunned the home crowd, who's side were still unable to penetrate the Dons defence when the clock struck 45 minutes.

In the second half, Dnipro pressed further, hitting the woodwork on no fewer than 3 occassions, before they equalised in strange circumstances.

Andrew Considine attempted a clearance from his box, only for the ball to rebound off Vorobey eight yards out, and past the unsuspecting Langfield.

It was game on, Dnipro struck the bar and Langfield made another fantastic save, but as full time approached and passed, the Ukrainians were unable to find a winner.

There were jubilant scenes at the final whistle from the players and fans in red, which completed a superb week for Scottish football.

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Calderwood spoke of his delight after the match: "I took Dunfermline to the Scottish Cup final and into Europe and then Aberdeen into Europe, but winning against a team of this quality is definitely the biggest achievement of my career.

"In the group I don't think we will face two or three teams as good as Dnipro. It's a great result for Scottish football. Our coefficient will go up."

With Rangers, Celtic and Aberdeen beating French, Italian and Ukrainian sides his week, let's hope there's a repeat performance for the Scottish national team in the international break to come.