Dee-light as Doc’s side get the job Don
Dundee may have only secured a hard-fought draw at Pittodrie but their players and fans celebrated as though they had just won the Premiership.
For the combination of this stalemate and Motherwell’s late leveller at Fir Park means they clinched a top-six finish.
That in itself is a notable achievement for ex-dons assistant boss Tony Docherty in his first year in charge at Dens Park.
Dundee have already guaranteed a highest finish in nine years and the extra revenue from that will be welcome, with a new pitch to build.
It also means they go into Wednesday’s much-rearranged game against Rangers with the pressure off, even if the venue has yet to be confirmed.
For Aberdeen, it was consecutive 0-0 draws going into next weekend’s Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic.
They are without suspended
skipper Graeme Shinnie for that. He will have another day off when the league resumes after a late red card yesterday.
The Dons’ faint hopes of a top-six place disappeared when VAR controversially disallowed Bojan Miovski’s late winner at Livingston last week.
Aberdeen voiced their displeasure after being told it was an informed guess by the officials as the Hawkeye system was not working.
The club’s support made their views clear, unfurling an “END VAR” banner in the Red Shed prior to kick-off.
That sense of injustice certainly seemed to be one of the incentives fuelling the Aberdeen players’ determined start to the game.
Although they were given the benefit of one such decision when substitute Curtis Main thumped the ball into the net in 77 minutes.
VAR confirmed that Amadou Bakayoko was offside in the build-up but the visitors enjoyed a slice of luck to keep a rare clean sheet.
Aberdeen never gave the Dundee defence a moment’s peace right from the kick-off, to such an extent that Docherty was quickly forced to change his formation.
The Dark Blues boss moved
from three to four at the back in less than 15 minutes because of the chaos caused by Duk.
The Cape Verde striker’s pace down the left tied the opposition in knots, at times resulting in them resorting to illegal methods to cope.
Antonio Portales was booked in three minutes, Dara Costelloe in 15 and Jordan Mcghee in 23 minutes, all for fouls on Duk.
A lack of sharp finishing from both sets of players was a major factor in the stalemate but there was no lack of effort.
Luke Mccowan set up Lyall Cameron in 20 minutes but the otherwise excellent midfielder shot straight at Kelle Roos.
Cameron clipped the bar with a shot from the edge of the box on the stroke of half-time.
Duk then failed to score from an acute angle in the second half before Cameron once again got into a great position in 70 minutes.
Duk had a header saved in the last minute but, by then, Dundee’s fans were already celebrating Motherwell’s goal.
Eight nerve-racking minutes of added time was negotiated with only a Stefan Gartenmann overhead kick causing anxiety.
And, with a minute of added time to go, Shinnie got his marching orders after a second booking for a foul on Malachi Boateng.