Dons ease through

Aberdeen attacker Adam Rooney scored his ninth European goal for the Dons last night to secure a 1-0 win against Ventspils in Latvia. Rooney's goal in the closing stages secured a comfortable 4-0 aggregate victory against Ventspils

Aberdeen attacker Adam Rooney scored his ninth European goal for the Dons last night to secure a 1-0 victory against Ventspils in Latvia. Rooney’s goal in the closing stages secured a comfortable 4-0 aggregate victory against Ventspils but it was far from straightforward, with goalkeeper Joe Lewis producing an outstanding parry to save Antons Jemelins’ penalty, while the former England under-21 international also produced several other excellent saves to keep a clean sheet. Rooney was delighted to secure the win which sets up a third qualifying round match against Slovenians Maribor, who progressed on the away goals rule after drawing 1-1 away to Levski Sofia last night after a goalless draw in the first leg. Rooney said: “The early rounds are difficult and we are playing teams we don’t know much about. It is hard to judge how good these teams are going off videos but we always expected a tough game. We put in a shocking performance against Fola Esch in Luxembourg and we were determined not to do it again. ”It was difficult today against a team which has hardly lost at home and we owe Joe a lot.”

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WELL DONE, MATE: Graeme Shinnie, right, congratulates Aberdeen Adam Rooney after his winning goal in last night’s Europa League second qualifying round win