Miovski spot on as he puts Dons into third
Bojan Miovski’s matchwinning penalty put Aberdeen two points clear of Livingston in third place going into the World Cup break.
Now manager Jim Goodwin will use this week’s training camp in Atlanta to make sure they are even better after it.
The Dons head to the US as the Premiership’s joint-top scorers on home soil with Celtic and Rangers.
Miovski’s goal leaves him the league’s joint top scorer on 11 alongside the Ibrox club’s Croatian striker Antonio Colak.
Visits from Celtic then Rangers are next up when things resume next month but improving away form is Goodwin’s priority
He said: “We are delighted with our position. Third was our short-term objective prior to the break.
“We wanted to get to the semis of the League Cup which we have.
“There are elements of frustration that we could have been four or five points better off but that’s just me being greedy.
“But we need to improve on the road after the break and that’s something we will work hard on.”
There was bags of enthusiasm from both sets of fans at a packed Pittodrie but that led to a largely forgettable first half of far-too-frantic football.
Dundee United in particular found it hard to keep the ball for any length of time although they did defend effectively, at least for a while.
They even went close to breaking the deadlock in 20 minutes when Glenn Middleton fastened on to Ross Graham’s long ball.
The winger’s shot from 20 yards looked set to trouble Kelle Roos but Dons skipper Anthony Stewart managed to defect it wide.
Aberdeen’s frustration at trying to breach the visitors’ defence largely resulted in poorly directed long range efforts.
That was until United obligingly became architects of their own downfall in 35 minutes when Middleton badly misplaced a pass as they pushed forward in numbers. The Dons pace on the counterattack saw Miovski send Duk racing clear and the exposed Mark Birighitti hauled the former Benfica played down.
Thankfully the VAR check was rapid by recent standards and Miovski may have missed one at Livingston in midweek but not this time.
Birighitti went left and the ball sped in the opposite direction as the North Macedonia international converted his fifth in the league this season.
It really should have been game over by the break following a simple punt forward from Roos that saw Graham inexplicably duck under the ball.
The central defender obviously thought it was going through to his keeper but Duk was lurking behind unnoticed.
Graham was the most relieved man in Aberdeen when Duk dinked his effort over Birighitti but wastefully wide of the target.
Not that there was much wrong with his judgment in the second half as he twice denied Miovski a second with excellent clearing headers.
The introduction of Ian Harkes and Sadat Anaku for Middleton and Craig Sibbald threatened a revival.
Steven Fletcher stretched too far to convert Dylan Levitt’s cross, then Harkes passed the ball behind the striker in the six-yard box.
Roos then saved the experienced striker’s header and followed it up by tipping Graham’s 20 yard drive over the bar, all within four minutes.