The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Pascali Ultras fail to inspire Italian job
Hosts Kilmarnock spellbound with a mesmerising display
Kilmarnock captain Manuel Pascali had his own special travelling support at Rugby Park, but it was not enough to stop the Dons surging to victory.
The 31-year-old fromMilan received vocal backing from a group of friends who travelled from Italy to cheer him on from the main stand.
Despite the support of the Pascali Ultras, Killie were second best against an Aberdeen side full of width and pace.
Pascali said: “My friends were putting me under some pressure before the
“Maybe they won't come back as they did not bring me luck”
match as they were louder than some of our fans. It was a pleasure to have them here, they travelled in numbers to support me.
“Iamdisappointed as every time they have come to see me we got positive results and this is the first time we lost. Maybe they won't come back as they did not bringmegood luck. I was a little bit embarrassed as I have not had such a big fan club.”
The centre back added: “We can't win them all. A home defeat is hard to take as we were in great form and now we have to start again. We started the match very well, especially the first 15-20 minutes but weknowAberdeenare very dangerous on the counterattack.
“The goal we conceded so early in the second half killed us and they scored a second on the counter. Fraser did very well to set up McGinn. We tried to push forward but the goal never came.
“I am very disappointed as aftergoodresults against StMirren andHearts it was a crucial game for us.
“We will have to watch the mistakes we made on video and try to start another positive run."
While most observers thought theDonswere well worth the win, Kilmarnock managerKenny Shiels, predictably didn’t see it that way.
He said: “We had two or three players that were off their game and we are not good enough to carry them. Aberdeen did not have one chance in the first half and we were probably victims of our own success.
“We scored an early goal and dropped off the game.
“We made a stupid mistake in the second half. There was a mix up and Gavin Rae goes through on goal and it is 1-1 and the game turned.
“I genuinely think we were hard done by in terms of the final result.
“Aberdeen got the breaks, took them and ran out 3-1 winners.”