Aberdeen came from behind to beat Dundee in as dramatic a game as has been
witnessed at Dens Park in many a year.
The Dons were 2-0 down at half-time and looked down and out but goals from
Darren Young, Russell Anderson and Darren Mackie completed a remarkable
turnaround.
Second-half substitute Alessandro Romano was sent off to complete Dundee's
misery after only being on the pitch for eight minutes.
Almost straight from the kick-off Dundee forced a corner and as the ball flew
around the visitors' box Dark Blues striker Fabian Caballero flashed a header
over the crossbar from 16 yards.
In what was a bright start to the game, Aberdeen retaliated and it seemed an
open game was in prospect.
And it was the home side who took the lead in the 14th minute after they were
awarded a stone-wall penalty.
As Temuri Ketsbaia cut into the box following a neat one-two with Gavin Rae,
Aberdeen's Moroccan midfielder Hicham Zerouali stuck a leg out and the Georgian
went down.
Referee Kenny Clark had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and Juan Sara
stepped up confidently to send Dons goalkeeper Peter Kjaer the wrong way for his
eighth goal of the season.
The home side were in the ascendancy and moments later Ketsbaia again burst
clear into the Dons box but his cut-back failed to find Caballero and the ball
was eventually cleared to safety.
But gradually Dundee dropped further and further back, seemingly content to
hit on the counter-attack and Aberdeen began to apply more pressure.
In the 31st minute Mackie latched onto a Robbie Winters pass but his cut-back
was put past the post by Sara for a corner which sadly for the visitors came to
nothing.
In the 40th minute Dundee doubled their lead with a fine goal by Ketsbaia. The
midfielder picked up the ball 25 yards from goal, turned back inside Fergus
Tiernan and drove a right-footed shot low past Kjaer.
Aberdeen came out for the second half determined to get back into a game they
were in danger of letting run away from them.
Dons manager Ebbe Skovdahl made a half-time substitution, replacing the
ineffective Zerouali with former Manchester City striker Leon Mike.
Dundee should have made it 3-0 in the 54th minute after some nice
inter-linking play by Caballero and Sara.
When the latter laid the ball off to Javier Artero only 12 yards out a goal
looked certain but the right-sided midfielder's side-footed shot went tamely
past Kjaer's right-hand post.
It was a costly miss because a minute later Aberdeen pulled a goal back.
Dundee captain Barry Smith failed to clear properly and the ball fell to Young
at the edge of the box.
The Aberdeen midfielder wasted no time in dispatching a left-foot shot past
Dens goalkeeper Julian Speroni and into the corner of the net and the visitors
were back in the game.
There was no real surprise when the Dons equalised in the 74th minute.
Winters' corner from the right was met by Anderson, who bulleted a header past
the helpless Speroni.
Then the visitors dramatically went into the lead two minutes later when an
unmarked Mackie headed a Winters corner past Speroni.
Although the ball was knocked clear it was adjudged to have crossed the line
and the home side were shell-shocked.
Dundee's agony was compounded in the 77th minute when substitute Alessandro
Romano, who had replaced Javier Artero eight minutes earlier, was red-carded for
having a kick at Mackie.
Teams
Dundee: Speroni, MacKay, Beghetto, Del Rio, Smith,
Artero (Romano 70), Rae, Torres, Ketsbaia, Caballero,
Sara (Kemas 75).
Subs Not Used: Langfield, Garrido, Milne.
Sent Off: Romano (78).
Booked: Caballero, Beghetto.
Goals: Sara 15 pen, Ketsbaia 40.
Aberdeen: Kjaer, McNaughton, McGuire, Anderson, McAllister,
Mackie, Darren Young, Tiernan, Clark (Thornley 73),
Winters (O'Donoghue 89), Zerouali (Mike 45).
Subs Not Used: Esson, Rutkiewicz.
Booked: McAllister, Zerouali.
Goals: Darren Young 55, Anderson 74, Mackie 77.
Att: 8,250
Ref: K Clark (Scotland).
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook