The Famous Aberdeen European Tour 17/18

[ICTJohnboy]

Well done the Dons, although your victory does have its roots in Inverness.

 

[akredz]

2 minutes ago, ICTJohnboy said:

Well done the Dons, although your victory does have its roots in Inverness.

 

Vicarious gloryhunter  
 

 

[jamamafegan]

Pint in the Pittodrie Bar - £3.30

Pie and Bovril - £4.50

Watching Aberdeen win 2-1 in Europe in front of a sell out crowd - £25

Tree House Tam seething again - priceless

[AberDon]

12 minutes ago, hellbhoy said:

40 degree fucking heat over there in Cyprus ffs. I'm afraid it will be park the fucking bus after 30 minutes thereabout when the Dons feel the extreme heat and sweating like a waterfall gasping for oxygen. Best of luck though and lock the players in a sauna for the next 5 days or so to prepare for the humidity.

It was similarly warm in Herzegovina.

[Ira Gaines]

A dodgy lead but I suspect a good enough one too.

Great to see that result.

[G-MAN]

Thought they were quite average. Maybe a missed opportunity not to go be further ahead going over there but stll reckon its very do-able. Maybe a score draw over there to go through.

I agree.

Think God is going overboard with praise on Sportsound post match. The Bosnians created a lot more chances.

[jimmy boo]

Watched the second half on Cricfree. Well done Dons fans for the full house and good luck in the return leg.

[Dominique Malonga]

Well done Aberdeen.

Greenie in it for anyone that posts the highlights.

[lubo_blaha]

Great start to the game. We moved the ball about with purpose and bossed the possession. Always thought we'd concede though and wasn't surprised it came when it did. They looked the more likely to score next as well until the red card.

Brilliant response afterwards. Shinnie wasn't able to play his usual game due to his soft booking out he dug us out like a captain should. It's a shame we couldn't push on for a third, Scott Wright was free out wide countless times but we rarely gave it to him. Apollon were happy with 2-1 at that stage but I understand not wanting to risk a second away goal. Great to finally get a win in QR3 although we probably still need to score over there.

All in all, a good evening at Pittodrie. Got a padded seat at the back of the RDS lower for a change which came with the added advantage of being able to watch the replays off the tv's in the corporate boxes. Pittodrie pies are excellent these days as well.

[BucksburnDandy]

Fantastic night. Team deserves a lot of praise but it is only half time in the tie.

The performance was epitomised by Graeme Shinnie who truly led from the front. A swashbuckling display - he is the beating heart of this team on the park. Top drawer strike that gives us an advantage for the first time in the Third Round at half time.

Ryan Christie is a majestic player. Probably the best technical player I've seen in a Dons strip. Very unselfish and has his feet on the ground. But you can see him growing and thriving as the chief creator.

McInnes did well to adapt quickly after the goal by pushing Des into midfield and then getting Wright on out wide when it was clear that we would get more benefit from it after the red card.

Felt Des looked a lot better than last home game tonight and he will grow. Arnason will be key next week in Cyprus for us.

The real frustration is the way we lost the goal, GMS switches off in the area in the way that Jonny Hayes didn't in his later Aberdeen career. It will be something that Del will coach into him the way that he coached it into Hayes.

The worry is up front, we don't seem to have found someone to compliment the excellent three behind the striker. Beginning to think that Louis Moult will be needed.

Best not mention the referee who at times looked well out of his depth. Apollon a good team when not play acting and taking players out off the ball. A very dirty team, not physical, just downright dirty.

Final mention to Pittodrie tonight. It truly is a wonderful ground when full for a European night!

[lubo_blaha]

Well done Aberdeen.

Greenie in it for anyone that posts the highlights.

@RashChallenge on twitter has the Dons goals.

[gastropod]

Well done Dons .Great to get a win and take a lead over there.Confident that you can score an away goal , best of luck

[G-MAN]

Good to see Mr Hayes in the Main Stand supporting his big team [emoji122]

[DrewDon]

We were excellent for the opening half-hour or so. Apollon were demonstrably rattled, they probably should have been down to ten men, and we scored a goal to show for our initial dominance. We also looked extremely fluent going forward: Mackay-Steven had João Pedro on toast, Stewart used his physical strength and football brain to full effect, and Christie took up from where he left off against Siroki. 

By the first quarter of an hour of the second half, Apollon had grown into the game and you did get the feeling that a sucker punch was coming sooner rather than later. Thankfully, we reasserted ourselves after the red card and Shinnie stepped up with a thunderb*****d. I would have liked a third at the end to give us a cushion to take to Cyprus, but that was probably being greedy. Ultimately, it was more important that we didn't concede a second away goal. 

I mentioned Mackay-Steven, Stewart and Christie's first-half performances above, but a special mention must go to Anthony O'Connor. I did want Árnason to start over him tonight, but he was easily our best defender - dominant in the air, read the game well, timed his interceptions perfectly, and had his positioning pretty much spot-on for the full 90 minutes. Shinnie, of course, was also very good - not only did he score a brilliant goal, but he did the 'dirty' things very well; his early tackle on Alex da Silva was, to say the least, uncompromising, but it was absolutely the right thing to do. He is their main man, but he really struggled to stamp any authority on proceedings for the rest of the half. It is always a risk to be a central midfielder getting booked that early, but it fired us up and perhaps even contributed to Apollon's poor discipline, which eventually resulted in a sending off. Shinnie is going to be a fantastic captain for us, and it showed tonight. 

I'm disappointed that we conceded an away goal and I do think Apollon are capable of playing much better than they did tonight, but our players deserve credit for nullifying their strengths for large periods of the game. We got a better result than I had anticipated and have put ourselves in a fairly good position going into the away leg, so it has to go down as a good night's work. 

[hellbhoy]

1 hour ago, AberDon said:

It was similarly warm in Herzegovina.

That's me telt again.

Hopefully the temperature and humidity falls to a comfortable climate for the game.

[Kneetrembler]

Fucking great night. Thats the first game we have won at this stage under Mcinnes. Still lots to do in order to progress but we are right in it and sets up another epic away trip.

COYR!

 

[muttonhumper]

Wasn't that impressed with the Cypriots / Greeks at all.

Feel we should have a better advantage going into next week than 2-1.

Though I do think that will be enough for us. Hopefully a strong referee as these c***s are well up for a cheat f**k aboot kerry on.

[Dominique Malonga]

@RashChallenge on twitter has the Dons goals.

Much obliged sir.

[muttonhumper]

[highland_mechanic]

As I said on the Aberdeen season 17-18 thread I enjoyed that tonight but one or two concerns.

Firstly the lack of a decent quality striker. Maynard and Stockley are NOT the answer.

Secondly that's the 2nd time in 2 home games we've been sucker punched and let the left back score.

Agree with those saying Christie was excellent, GMS, Stewart and Arnason will be good additions this season.

I also agree that it was O'Connor's finest game in a AFC shirt.

As for Apollon some tidy players but some brutal ones too. How Saccheti didn't see red for his disgusting tackle on Stewart in the 1st half I will never know.

Finally what a captain!  Shinnie will probably never score a better goal in his career.