SAM IS RED HOT
Cosgrove at the double as Dons go second
NOT SO long ago, the most notable moment of Sam Cosgrove’s Aberdeen career looked like being sent off on his debut for trying to leave a mark on Celtic captain Scott Brown.
Now, he looks like the man most likely to leave the Parkhead outfit seeing red by putting a dent in the defence of their Premiership title ahead of the winter break.
The man who couldn’t hit a barn door is suddenly being touted for the Ballon d’Or — at least in the songs emanating from the stands at Pittodrie.
A first-half header and an expertly converted penalty after the break earned the points against a Hearts side reduced to 10 men by Demetri Mitchell’s late sending-off and took the 22-year-old Englishman’s recent tally to six goals in four games.
It also propelled the Dons into second place in the table, with leaders Celtic — just three points ahead of them — heading north on Boxing Day to face a team boasting a recent record of eight wins out of 10 in the Premiership.
Cosgrove isn’t the prettiest of players, but he is their best option in attack right now. Likewise, despite a blistering start to this game, Aberdeen could hardly be described as the most attractive side.
Given the bad blood that spilled over from their defeat to Celtic in the Betfred Cup final and the rows that escalated between manager Derek McInnes, captain Graeme Shinnie and the likes of Brown and Mikael Lustig, there will no lack of hunger around the home dressing room on Wednesday. Cosgrove insists, however, that the prospect of moving level on points with the champions by recording a victory will serve as a greater motivational force than any sense of vengeance.
‘You have the little bits and pieces that will maybe give you extra motivation, but I don’t think any extra motivation comes from spite,’ he said. ‘We are massively determined at the moment.
‘We have stormed up the league recently and another win only pushes us even further.
‘Confidence-wise, we are nearly as good as we can get. We knew the criticism was there as the team wasn’t scoring and the focus comes down on the strikers. Does it affect us? I think it has motivated all the strikers even more.’
Cosgrove hardly had to leap like a salmon to connect with a Stevie May cross from the left for his opener after just two minutes. A leisurely jump and a superbly-directed header saw the ball loop past Hearts’ Irish goalkeeper Colin Doyle, who was handed a surprise debut in place of the benched Bobby Zlamal.
At that point, it looked like the Dons were simply going to blow Hearts away.
They had the ball in the net again on 25 minutes. Shay Logan launched a high ball into the area and kicked off the celebrations when it dipped under the crossbar and went into the net, but referee John Beaton had blown for a Lewis Ferguson foul on Doyle on the goal-line.
By that stage, Hearts had been gaining a foothold, but they didn’t create a gilt-edged opportunity until after the half hour.
Steven Naismith, back in the side after knee surgery, won a free-kick just outside the area when appearing to go down easily under Shinnie’s challenge. Clever lead-up work by Olly Lee and Oliver Bozanic saw the ball moved through to Steven MacLean and it took a fine block from keeper Joe Lewis to avert the danger. During that passage of play, Naismith had gone down in the area under a challenge from Max Lowe — who was taken off injured early in the second half and is now out of the Celtic game — but the resultant penalty claims were turned down.
The sides were in danger of cancelling each other out until the Dons got themselves two in front from the penalty spot in 69 minutes.
Hearts defender Peter Haring went into the referee’s book for a foul on Shinnie and Niall McGinn delivered the free-kick towards the back post. Referee Beaton adjudged Christophe Berra to have fouled Scott McKenna as they went for the ball and pointed to the spot.
Naturally, there was only one man to take it. Lethal, composed, never to be doubted in the slightest, Cosgrove coolly side-footed the ball home from the spot.
The home fans felt Naismith could have been ordered off towards the end when a clash with Ferguson resulted in a barney that brought yellow cards for the Hearts forward, his team-mate Michael Smith and Aberdeen substitute Stephen Gleeson.
As it was, Levein opted to take off the Scotland striker on 77 minutes, sending on 17-year-old Anthony McDonald.
It wasn’t long, though, before Hearts did go down to 10 men, with Mitchell shown a second yellow for scything down Campbell as the Dons attempted to strike on the counter-attack.
That’s one win in 10 for Hearts. Once regarded as title contenders themselves, they are battling to keep their heads above water in the top six.
ABERDEEN (4-4-1-1): Lewis; Logan, McKenna, Considine, Lowe (Campbell 49); McGinn, Shinnie, Ferguson, McLennan (Wright 87); May (Gleeson 60); Cosgrove. Subs (not used): Cerny, Wilson, Forrester, Anderson. Booked: Logan, Gleeson. HEARTS (3-4-2-1): Doyle; Haring, M Smith, Berra; Godinho (Brandon 87), Lee, Bozanic, Mitchell; Clare (Morrison 84), Naismith (McDonald 78); MacLean. Subs (not used): Zlamal, Hughes, Mulraney, C Smith. Booked: Mitchell, Haring, Naismith. Sent off: Mitchell. Referee: John Beaton. Attendance: 16,451.