It’s May’s day – at the Dons double
ABERDEEN 2 May (11, 79) DUNDEE 1 Deacon (53)
STEVIE May’s match- winning double showed why Derek McInnes was willing to splash out £ 400,000 to be reunited with his former St Johnstone striker.
The player, signed from Preston North End, needed just 11 minutes of his home Dons debut to make his mark.
That was an intelligent, looping header from a Greg Tansey corner but the best was saved for just when Dundee thought they would head home with a point.
Roarie Deacon had equalised in the second half but May completed a dream first game in front of the Pittodrie fans by cracking in a stunning winner with just 11 minutes left.
The worrying thing for Scottish defences is the man who scored just eight times in three injury-hit years in English football has warned he’ll only get better.
May said:” The win was the most important thing but it was great to get two goals in my first game in front of the home fans.
“The first goal for any striker is the most important of all as it is a weight off my shoulders and I can kick on and enjoy myself here.
“I am only going to get sharper as the season progresses as I need more game time, so it’s a good start but there is a lot more to come.”
May’s opener was expected to open the floodgates against a Dundee side who have now made their worst start to any season since 1998.
That it didn’t happen was down to a combination of disjointed Dons play and a determination not to overwhelmed by the injury-hit Dens Park squad.
A backline whose average age was under 22 because of the number of injuries to key players deserved a lot of credit for the way they went about their business.
Once again they made chances going forward but Maruc Haber hit the bar with a header and James Vincent squandered one in the first half.
They did level in 53 minutes when Deacon intercepted a poor Ryan Christie pass then zipped a shot through the legs of Joe Lewis from an acute angle.
Scott Allan then blew the easiest
opportunity of the game shooting wide of an open goal after great set up play down the right.
To prove Dundee’s luck really was out, Marcus Haber and Faissel El Bakhtaoui were injured in a breakaway attack in 78 minutes.
Before Neil McCann could get a sub on, Aberdeen exploited their two-man advantage as May lashed in the winner.
That extends Aberdeen’s winning start to four games in domestic football, three in the Premiership and they look a good bet to be Celtic’s closest challengers again.
What pleased Derek McInnes most after this hard-fought victory though was that they have the quality all good teams need.
That is the ability to grind out results even when they are not at the top of their form and that was certainly the case here.
McInnes said: “We enjoy winning the game and it is a brilliant goal from Stevie May but the performance was not as pleasing as I’d have liked.
“We gave Dundee encouragement they could leave here with something by giving the ball away in poor areas.
“They didn’t make the most of their opportunities.”