Battling Dons’ run halted in typically Scottish fashion
IT won’t be much consolation to Aberdeen. But at least this proves that some strands of old-fashioned normality have survived 2020’s head-first hurtle into the twilight zone.
Last night in the Estadio Jose Alvalade, the Dons endured a European experience so stereotypically Scottish that it made Aaron Hickey’s Bologna signing video look like a piece of reality TV.
Oh, this 1-0 loss to Sporting Clube de Portugal had all the old favourite themes.
Brave defeat. Slick foreign opponents who looked as comfortable taking an easy tumble as they did knocking the ball about. Picky, picky, picky refereeing. The obligatory defensive lapse, naturally. Inevitably punished, of course.
And a fiery fightback that, obviously, fell just short of delivering at least the chance to test Sporting’s fitness in extra-time. There really wasn’t a cliché left unturned. In the end, a first senior goal for 18-year-old Tiago Tomas after just seven minutes was all the home side needed.
Thrust into the starting line-up for a Sporting side crippled by Covid call-offs, the Portugal Under-19s forward capitalised on one brief lapse of concentration against the early run of play.
And, on a night where even the most diehard home fan might have been uncertain over what to expect from their team, the rest of the game played out just as you might expect. Ending with Aberdeen failing to really test the Sporting keeper.
Rarely can a tie against such notable European competition have felt quite so much like a leap into the unknown.
With so many household names housebound by quarantine requirements, Sporting were always going to field a starting XI with a distinctly unfamiliar feel to it.
Lest anyone feel too heartbroken over the hosts being without ten players and staff for this one, however, you’d have to say they were starting from a pretty strong base.
The Sporting back three in last night’s starting XI, for instance, had an average age of just over 30. This was no team of callow kids.
And, on occasions like this, it’s almost written that some youngster plucked from the youth ranks will seize his opportunity.
That’s just what the lad Tiago did inside the opening ten minutes, taking a clever pass from the wily Luciano Vietto in behind a ragged Reds back line — and beating Joe Lewis with aplomb.
If the assist and the finish were top class, McInnes cannot have been happy with how Sporting were allowed to turn over possession so close to his team’s goal.
Ross McCrorie is a heck of a footballer. And, in his defence, he’d come pretty close to carving open a real scoring chance for the visitors in the opening minute — an interception, a driving run and an excellent cross demonstrated just why he’s so highly rated.
But he was guilty of getting caught with the ball not quite under control in his own third to hand Sporting a chance to hurt the Dons. Which Vietto and Tiago duly did. Fair play to the visitors, they weren’t shaken to the core by the loss of such an early goal. Going forward, they showed plenty of willingness — and no little guile.
McCrorie kept barrelling forward, with one brilliant charge down the right drawing a brutal challenge from the trailing Vietto, who was duly booked for his sins.
Marley Watkins’ ability to stretch the game was also useful as Aberdeen pushed further forward after the half-hour mark, with one run down the right causing all sorts of havoc.
If only his ball into the box had been that bit closer to Ryan Hedges. If only, if only … even an under-cooked Sporting weren’t going to let their Scottish opponents simply bang away at their penalty area all night, of course.
As the first half entered its closing stages, the home side gradually tightened the screw.
They kept the ball well, knocked it around with a sort of easy grace, gradually penned the red jerseys back towards their own goal.
And, but for Lewis making a brave point-blank save from Jovane Cabral just before the 40-minute mark, they’d have been two up.
That chance came from a corner on the right going all the way through to the Cape Verde Islander at the back post.
Sporting’s plan, one that continued into the second half, was pretty clear. Keep the ball, move the men in red around the pitch. Save energy, if possible.
They hadn’t played a lot of football going into this one, remember, with the weekend call-off — something teams would welcome later in the season — denying them an opportunity to get some more running into their legs.
If you can make the ball do the work, though, why worry about keeping pace with the frenetic opponents from a more frantic football environment?
Aberdeen chased and harried, tackled and challenged. There was no lack of effort or, in the main, defensive organisation. But Pedro Porro really should have scored with a free header on 56 minutes. Gaps were beginning to appear.
And the Dons simply could not get out of their own half. When
Watkins is the furthest forward, barely 35 yards from goal, something isn’t working.
Every time they looked like getting into Sporting territory, possession wasn’t retained for more than a second or two. Gradually, as more bodies were thrown forward, they began to advance.
And, although Lewis had to come diving out at the feet of Cabral to keep his team in this game, the Dons did go for broke in the last 15 minutes.
When Hedges blazed a left-footed effort wide from 18 yards just two minutes from time, though, that was the end of all hope. What could be more Scottish than that?
SPORTING (3-4-3): Adan; Coates, Luis Neto, Feddal; Pedro Porro (Plata 88), Nunes, Wendel (Branganca 86), Nuno Mendes; Tiago Tomas (Sporar 77) Vietto, Jovane Cabral. Substitutes: Andre Paulo, Joao Silva, Antunes, Joelson.
ABERDEEN (3-5-2): Lewis; Hoban, Taylor, Considine; Logan (McLennan 83), McCrorie, McGeouch (Wright 69), Ferguson, Hayes; Hedges, Watkins (Edmondson 81). Substitutes: Cerny, Hernandez, Ojo, McGinn. Man of the match: Jonny Hayes. Referee: Nikola Dabanovic (MNE).