Old habits die hard for Dons ace on first start
James Wilson admits scoring a match-winning first goal for Aberdeen was just as satisfying as the double on his first home start for Manchester United.
The on-loan striker scored twice against Hull City in his first senior start at Old Trafford and looked set for stardom at one of the world’s biggest clubs.
It hasn’t quite worked out that way since, but he showed what he can offer the Dons with a superb goal in his delayed first outing at Pittodrie.
His sixth-minute strike was enough to give Derek Mcinnes’s side their first home league win of the season and shoot them back into the top five.
And 22-year-old Wilson feels right at home after his winner. He said: “I like my home debuts as I’ve scored a few in them down the years and I am happy to keep that going here.
“I scored against Hull City on my Old Trafford debut and on my debut for Brighton and for Sheffield United as well.
“That felt just as good today, and any time the ball hits the back of the net it feels incredible.
“I’ve been here for a few weeks now and it’s been frustrating not to play but I’ve had a few good days’ training now.
“I got the nod and did the best for the team I could, lasting 60 minutes which I’m very happy about, and it’s good to get the win.
“It’s been a while since I scored a goal in the senior leagues so it’s nice to do that.”
Everyone at Pittodrie has been salivating at the prospect of what Wilson would do to opposition defences once he was fully fit and the striker took just six minutes to justify their excitement.
The Dons have lacked someone with both pace and the intelligence to use it properly in recent times, and the English front man showed both to open the scoring.
Niall Mcginn spotted Wilson’s run in the inside-left channel and exploited it with a perfect pass which got the treatment it deserved with a clinical finish.
Expecting a physical battle, Mcinnes selected Dom Ball in midfield and Sam Cosgrove to partner Wilson up front. Not that Motherwell were exactly one-dimensional in their approach, as they proved when Carl Mchugh rattled the junction of bar and post with a thunderous 25-yard drive after 21 minutes.
Seconds later came another controversial incident of the kind which has had Mcinnes recently calling for the introduction of VAR.
The Dons boss has felt hard done by recently, but they say things even out over time and this might just have been Aberdeen’s turn to get away with one.
When Elliott Frear went sprawling inside the home box, it needed a freeze frame to decide if Andy Considine took the ball or the player, but the defender got the benefit of the doubt.
However, there was no doubt that Frear deserved the booking he picked up for diving near the end of the match.
Not that the home back line had too many awkward moments against a side that struggled to create chances. The best chance of an equaliser came in the 90th minute when Chris Cadden’s long-range effort forced Joe Lewis into his first save. Aberdeen weren’t much more impressive in the shooting department despite their superior possession but Mcginn went close with a free kick in the first half.
And Trevor Carson was happy to see his fumble from a Gary Mackay-steven shot squirm past.
Aberdeen:
(4-4-2) Lewis 8; Logan 6, Devlin 6, Mckenna 7, Considine 7; Mackay-steven 6, Ball 6, Shinnie 6, Mcginn 6 (Campbell 82, 2); Wilson 6, (Anderson 62, 3) Cosgrove 6 (Lowe 87, 1). Unused – Cerny, Forrester, Gleeson. motherwell:
(3-5-2) Carson 6; Aldred 6, Mchugh 6, Hartley 6, (Turnball 56, 4); Frear 6, Campbell 6, Bigirimana 6, Donnelly 3 (Cadden 46, 4}, Tait 6; Sammon 5 (Bowman 53, 4), Johnson 6. Unused – Gillespie, Grimshaw, Taylorsinclair GARY MACKAY-STEVEN showed once again why Derek Mcinnes is so anxious to extend the winger’s contract beyond this season with a display of quality not matched by many in a poor spectacle.