STILL IN THERE PITCHING
Dons defy quagmire surface to keep group hopes alive
QARABAG ..... 1 ABERDEEN ..... 0 ABERDEEN now have to produce a big night under the lights at Pittodrie next week after suffering on the rutted pitch in Azerbaijan.
Stephen Glass’ side lost in Baku as Jaime Romero’s goal gave side Qarabag the slightest of advantages in the bid to bag a place in the Europa Conference group stages.
The Dons will certainly fancy their chances with home advantage in front of a big and hostile Red Army.
Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack was critical of the Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium’s surface before kickoff. He tweeted to UEFA that it was beyond the pale that they had allowed such an important European game on such a bad surface.
Cormack joked it was so poor and was cutting up badly that his side might think about changing the second leg to the Inverdee council pitches in Aberdeen.
The visitors had registered their complaints to the match delegate who agreed with them but told them they had to play.
The match had been switched from Qarabag’s 5800-capacity Azersun Arena to the 32,000 Azerbaijan national stadium.
Home gaffer Gurban Gurbanov had also questioned the surface in their last game against AEL Limassol.
It’s been 14 seasons since Aberdeen were in the group stages of European football – under Jimmy Calderwood in the UEFA Cup.
Now the class of 2021 will want to deliver.
Glass will know if his team play the way they can and have in Europe at Pittodrie this season then they will have a real chance of delivering.
It would see a possible big £3million-plus windfall if they come out on top next week.
Qarabag overall certainly didn’t look as if they were any great shakes.
Aberdeen had crashed out of the Premier Sports Cup and couldn’t afford another big slipup here, after a poor secondhalf showing at Raith Rovers.
Glass made six changes and was also missing key man Ryan Hedges who left Stark’s Park on Sunday on crutches.
The Dons had got past BK Hacken and Breidablik but Qarabag were a step up.
They had previously ran Celtic all the way in Champions League qualifiers, matches captain Scott Brown had been involved in 2016.
The Azerbaijani side had also been group regulars with six appearances in the Europa League and another in the
Champions League. Albeit, they are no longer paying such big wages.
The pitch was a quagmire that instantly cut up and there was no chance of any fluent, passing play on it.
Qarabag were more used to the surroundings and the higher temperature and made the most of them.
The first chance came from slack hold-up play from Jay Emmanuel-Thomas.
There was a ball fired up to him but it bounced away and allowed Tural Bayramov to run at the heart of the Aberdeen defence before his shot was pushed away by keeper Joe Lewis.
There was an even bigger concern for Glass when Andrew Considine was stretchered off with what looked like a knee injury.
He was fouled by Romero but it was open to debate how much the pitch played in the potential incident.
That allowed Jonny Hayes to come on after his own injury trouble at Kirkcaldy.
There was a water break and after that it was Qarabag who turned up the heat on the half-hour.
Ex-Hibs loanee Abdellah Zoubir curled a ball in and Kady fed it out to Romero. It left Hayes exposed two v one and Romero cut inside and smashed a low shot past Lewis at his near post.
The goal gave Qarabag a shot of confidence and they finished the half on top, as defender Ross McCrorie picked up a booking.
Glass is never shy in making changes and it was no shock to see the ineffective JET being left grounded in the dressing room and replaced by Connor McLennan at the interval.
Aberdeen did push forward more in the second period but Brown went into the book for stopping a Kady counter attack.
Slovenian referee Rade Obrenovic was happy to take Aberdeen names but showed more leniency towards the home side.
He eventually booked Patrick Andrade in the 64th minute for a challenge on Lewis Ferguson – although the official had no option as it was a blatant foul.
Obrenovic then booked angry Glass for good measure.
As the game wore on Aberdeen pushed Qarabag back and played the majority of time in their half without really cutting them open.
The final ball or cross was poor and that was frustrating for the visitors’ bench.
The first chance on target came late on when McCrorie made a decent challenge and let Christian Ramirez in behind. But the striker didn’t catch his shot and it was gathered by Shakhruddin Magomedaliyev in goal.
Aberdeen faltered in the final stages and had Lewis to thank for not leaving them with a mountain to climb as he came off his line to make a fine instinctive save from sub Marko Vesovic.
Qarabag captain Maksim Medvedev was booked for a foul in the closing seconds.
It gave Aberdeen a final chance. Declan Gallagher was booked before Ferguson curled a free-kick straight into the grateful gloves of Magomedaliyev.
It was a disappointment for Glass that his Dons couldn’t land a blow.
Now they have to make sure it happens on Thursday – but before that they have to look to Hearts on Sunday and try to make it nine points out of nine at Tynecastle.