It’s almost all white on the night

● Battling Dons ten minutes from a famous victory over Premier side

rest of the Aberdeen starting team had been put together for under £100,000. Burnley’s record transfer, £15 million man Chris Wood, led the line for the visitors and was virtually anonymous for long spells.

“Premier League, you’re having a laugh,” sang the Aberdeen supporters after they saw their side take an early lead.

Goalkeeper Nick Pope, a member of England’s World Cup squad, was not called upon in Russia and did not have the chance to taste much involvement here. Injured in an aerial collision by a combination of Cosgrove and Ferguson after just 11 minutes, he was eventually replaced by Anders Lindegaard. The Dane’s first action of note, apart from seeking to put off Gary Mackay-steven by complaining about the positioning of the ball on the penalty spot, was to then pick it from the back of the net. Mackay-steven proved nerveless when converting the award after James Tarkowski was penalised for pushing Cosgrove.

“1-0 to the Sunday League,” mocked the home fans in the direction of the 1,900 travelling supporters. Some of these Burnley fans had already expressed annoyance that their return to European competition after a gap of 51 years saw them posted to… Aberdeen.

Their mood cannot have been helped by the sea haar that wrapped Aberdeen and much of the North-east in its cooling grip while the rest of the country baked.

They were in good voice nevertheless before kick-off. But their team seemed strangely listless given the significance of the occasion. Burnley had not featured on this stage since an Inter-cities Fairs Cup quarter-final tie with Eintracht Frankfurt in 1967. They started confidently enough in terms of keeping possession but they rarely got into a position to hurt Aberdeen.

The hosts were looked more dangerous on the counter attack.

Burnley did suffer that early blow when they were forced to replace Pope. A high, hanging cross from Mcginn was attacked by the Aberdeen pair Cosgrove and Ferguson with Pope and James Tarkwoski then left in a heap on the ground. The keeper was helped off while holding his arm and replaced by Lindegaard.

Just three minutes later, before Lindegaard had time to touch the ball, Aberdeen were awarded a dubious penalty. Tarkowski was penalised for barging into Cosgrove as he sought to clear Shay Logan’s cross. The German referee, Daniel Siebert, had apparently taken notes from this summer’s World Cup.

Mackay-steven did well to keep his composure and send Lindegaard the wrong way.

Burnley were disappointing in an attacking context and had only a Wood blast over the bar and a Johann Berg Gudmundsson shot past the post to show for their efforts. Aberdeen continued to look dangerous on the break and Shinnie should have done better with a drive that he failed to connect with properly.

Burnley could not fail to improve in the second-half. A header from Jack Cork produced a terrific reaction save from Joe Lewis and Aberdeen were simply glad to clear the rebound after an almighty stramash.

Vokes replaced Hendrick after 67 minutes and the trouble began for Aberdeen. The striker almost immediately whipped in a hooked effort