BRIDGE TOO FAR FOR BOLD DONS
Kairat too strong as fresh piece of history eludes hosts in a frantic finish
FOR brave Aberdeen, the final blast of Czech referee Miroslav Zelinka’s whistle at Pittodrie brought defeat over two legs but no disgrace. The European adventures of Derek McInnes and his men have taken them to Macedonia to eliminate KF Shkendija and Croatia to oust HNK Rijeka.
But the continental sojourns of this club with such a rich European history were ended in the narrowest fashion by classy Kairat Almaty of Kazakhstan last night.
To progress into the play-off round of the Europa League, the Dons would have had to create a piece of modern history.
Not since 1984, when Alex Ferguson’s side were European Cup Winners’ Cup holders, had the Pittodrie club overturned a first-leg loss to go through; against the Hungarians of Ujpest Dosza in the quarter-finals.
Ultimately, the retro feel was to be limited to tunes from the Human League and KC and the Sunshine Band before the match, again at half-time, and by a packed and passionate c r owd of 20,317 at Pittodrie.
Sadly, the Dons were unable to roll back the clock on the park as they scratched out a battling 1-1 draw, exiting 3-2 on aggregate against a side that were second best for long spells last night, but always looked dangerous.
There was no surprise that, when the killer goal came, it was notched by Gerard Gohou. Injured for the first leg, the Ivory Coast striker looked a constant menace last night and his second-half strike was his 31st goal in his last 34 games.
Despite Aberdeen’s valiant efforts, with Kenny McLean scoring a back-post header to level on the night with six minutes left, the Dons were unable to find the second goal during a frantic finish that could have prevented Celtic becoming Scottish football’s last team standing i n continental competition this season.
The Dons may have bowed out but at least they did so in a ripsnorter of a match, giving their all but ultimately lacking a cutting edge — bar McLean’s late goal.
Before kick- off, the atmosphere around the Granite City was electric. The incredible noise reached a crescendo as the players walked out to a spectacular red-and-white f l ag display by the Aberdeen fans.
Almaty had faced a fraught journey over, with a two-hour plane delay before stops in Russia and Belgium en r oute, f i nally touching down in Aberdeen to c o mplete their 5,000-mile odyssey.
But the big-spendi ng Kazakhstanis did not l ook ri ng rusty and nearly gave their 50 travelling fans an early goal to cheer. Gohou served immediate notice of what was to come when his f i rst touch in the opening 20 seconds forced a decent save from Danny Ward.
Pittodrie was bouncing moments later with an excellent move involving McLean, David Goodwillie and Jonny Hayes yielding a corner. The dead-ball deli ve r y s aw Peter Pawlett adamant that Mikhail Bakaev had handled.
As Pawlett protested, Almaty broke up the park and carved out a magnificent chance to go ahead. As Stanislav Lunin ran clear on goal, Ward rushed out and saved with his legs at the edge of the box.
The Red Army then had their hearts in their mouths when Shay Logan’s poor ball inside threatened to release Lunin again, but Andrew Considine slid in with a crunching tackle to save the day.
It was a compelling contest and Pawlett had another penalty claim turned down when Goodwillie played him i n behind and he tumbled under the challenge of Yermek Kuantayev.
With Goodwillie on top form, Zarko Markovic had a kick at the former Scotland international and was soon followed into the book by Anatoliy Tymoshchuk.
He won the Champions League with Bayern Munich two years ago and captained the Zenit St Petersburg side that beat Rangers in the 2008 UEFA Cup Final. He remains a class act, but was not afraid to put a foot in where necessary. Aberdeen t hought they had taken the lead when Hayes finished a fine move with a shot that agonisingly found the wrong side of Vladimir Plotnikov’s left-hand post after the slightest of touches by the visiting keeper.
McInnes’ men then forced a succession of corners but, as well as Aberdeen were playing — bar a couple of slack and dangerous passes — Almaty continued to carry considerable menace.
With the powerful Gohou around, there was no time for Considine and Ash Taylor to relax. But it was Bakaev who was next to threaten, though the impressive Ward was again equal to his 20-yard drive.
The half-time whistle was greeted with loud applause by the home crowd, who knew their side was very much still in this tie. And McInnes’ men started the second half in a lively fashion with halfchances being created, and missed, by Pawlett and Goodwillie.
Then Niall McGinn tried his luck from an acute angle in the box, but the ball flew high and just wide.
Then disaster struck when Hayes tried to run the ball out of defence f r om a c or ner, only to be dispossessed by Bakaev, whose shot was saved by Ward. Gohou was there to tuck the ball i nto the back of the net and effectively kill the tie.
Aberdeen now needed two goals if they were to keep alive their dream of reaching the group stages for t he first t i me s i nce Ji mmy Calderwood’s side reached the last 32 of the UEFA Cup in 2008.
On came Adam Rooney, Paul Quinn and Willo Flood as Gohou limped off injured, milking every last step off the park.
But it was McLean who set up a grandstand finish, which included five added minutes.
Kairat substitute Serginho hit the bar with a late volley before the match became ill-tempered with a shoving match breaking out in the Almaty box after another visiting player decided to take cramp.
Then substitute Quinn nearly grabbed a leveller on aggregate right at the death, but it was not to be.
Aberdeen will ultimately rue that t heir f i ne performance and dominance did not see them avoid defeat against strong opposition.
But the applause at the full-time whistle proved that McInnes and his men can exit the European arena with their heads held high.