After a 3-1 win at St Mirren last week, Hibs, under caretaker managers Eddie May and Grant Murray following Neil Lennon's departure, faced a much tougher test in third-placed Aberdeen, who have finished second in the Scottish Premiership in each of the last four seasons and have been in good form for a while now, winning 10 of their last 14 league games. We have a notoriously bad record against them, with just one Hibs victory in the last 14 league games between the two sides, and that run extended at Easter Road this afternoon.
Despite not fielding any of our three deadline day signings (Marc McNulty, Gael Bigirimana or Darnell Johnson), we made a great start, with Oli Shaw surging forwards and firing in a beautiful shot from long range. The lead didn't last long, however, as Aberdeen drew level within three minutes through Andrew Considine after Mark Milligan and David Gray had cleared efforts from Dons attackers off the line. Aberdeen kept their momentum going by taking the lead 10 minutes later, as Greg Stewart's tame effort was spilled by Ofir Marciano, who blocked Stevie May on the rebound only for Gary Mackay-Steven to poke the ball in at the second time of asking.
Aberdeen did what you'd expect of them after this - defend deep and shut the game down. I don't remember us creating another good chance for the remainder of the first half - Stevie Mallan came close with a free-kick and a few dangerous balls were swung into the box but nobody was able to get on the end of them. At the start of the second half, the visitors were awarded a penalty - in my opinion, extremely soft - but Marciano redeemed himself for his earlier mistake by saving Mackay-Steven's poor effort from the spot. We had chances to get an equaliser - Flo Kamberi directed two free headers wide, and McNulty, having come off the bench for Shaw, had his effort from inside the box blocked. However, our attempts to level things up petered out and Aberdeen could have won more comfortably, with James Wilson shooting wide when one on one with Marciano at the end.
I thought our performance today was an improved one - it was nice seeing us keep the ball on the ground after the poor, direct football that we have served up over the past couple of months. We looked considerably better than in Lennon's last match, an anaemic display in a defeat against a dire Motherwell side, so that was a positive. I'm hoping we can get a new coach in before long and kick on from there.
A couple of other notes:
The refereeing performance was especially dreadful this week. Aberdeen players milked it every time there was contact, and Don Robertson was fooled an alarming amount of times by their dramatic tumbling. I'd say at least half of the 16 "fouls" committed by Hibs should not have been given, and Aberdeen definitely committed more than seven. Robertson's refusal to book the persistently-dirty Graeme Shinnie, who seems to share an "above-the-law" status with the likes of Scott Brown and Steven Naismith, was particularly baffling.
As much as I dislike Shinnie for his antics, we could use a player like him, a leader on the park who's going to actually stand up for us. Even with all the poor decisions that went against us today, there was still no-one on our team who was getting in the ref's ear and trying to influence him, which is what Shinnie does whenever a decision goes against Aberdeen, even if the decision was clearly the correct one. Shinnie's the kind of guy who opposition supporters hate but who you want to have on your side. We need somebody like that.
I like the look of Bigirimana. Nice and tidy in possession, and helped to move the team forwards. Reminds me of Dylan McGeouch. Mark Milligan was probably my man of the match, though. One of his best performances in a Hibs shirt.
The BBC have reported the possession as 69-31 in favour of Aberdeen. I'm going to assume someone somewhere hit the wrong button because there was absolutely no chance that this was the case.
Celtic at Parkhead are up next in midweek, followed by Raith Rovers at home in the Scottish Cup next weekend.
Despite not fielding any of our three deadline day signings (Marc McNulty, Gael Bigirimana or Darnell Johnson), we made a great start, with Oli Shaw surging forwards and firing in a beautiful shot from long range. The lead didn't last long, however, as Aberdeen drew level within three minutes through Andrew Considine after Mark Milligan and David Gray had cleared efforts from Dons attackers off the line. Aberdeen kept their momentum going by taking the lead 10 minutes later, as Greg Stewart's tame effort was spilled by Ofir Marciano, who blocked Stevie May on the rebound only for Gary Mackay-Steven to poke the ball in at the second time of asking.
Aberdeen did what you'd expect of them after this - defend deep and shut the game down. I don't remember us creating another good chance for the remainder of the first half - Stevie Mallan came close with a free-kick and a few dangerous balls were swung into the box but nobody was able to get on the end of them. At the start of the second half, the visitors were awarded a penalty - in my opinion, extremely soft - but Marciano redeemed himself for his earlier mistake by saving Mackay-Steven's poor effort from the spot. We had chances to get an equaliser - Flo Kamberi directed two free headers wide, and McNulty, having come off the bench for Shaw, had his effort from inside the box blocked. However, our attempts to level things up petered out and Aberdeen could have won more comfortably, with James Wilson shooting wide when one on one with Marciano at the end.
I thought our performance today was an improved one - it was nice seeing us keep the ball on the ground after the poor, direct football that we have served up over the past couple of months. We looked considerably better than in Lennon's last match, an anaemic display in a defeat against a dire Motherwell side, so that was a positive. I'm hoping we can get a new coach in before long and kick on from there.
A couple of other notes:
The refereeing performance was especially dreadful this week. Aberdeen players milked it every time there was contact, and Don Robertson was fooled an alarming amount of times by their dramatic tumbling. I'd say at least half of the 16 "fouls" committed by Hibs should not have been given, and Aberdeen definitely committed more than seven. Robertson's refusal to book the persistently-dirty Graeme Shinnie, who seems to share an "above-the-law" status with the likes of Scott Brown and Steven Naismith, was particularly baffling.
As much as I dislike Shinnie for his antics, we could use a player like him, a leader on the park who's going to actually stand up for us. Even with all the poor decisions that went against us today, there was still no-one on our team who was getting in the ref's ear and trying to influence him, which is what Shinnie does whenever a decision goes against Aberdeen, even if the decision was clearly the correct one. Shinnie's the kind of guy who opposition supporters hate but who you want to have on your side. We need somebody like that.
I like the look of Bigirimana. Nice and tidy in possession, and helped to move the team forwards. Reminds me of Dylan McGeouch. Mark Milligan was probably my man of the match, though. One of his best performances in a Hibs shirt.
The BBC have reported the possession as 69-31 in favour of Aberdeen. I'm going to assume someone somewhere hit the wrong button because there was absolutely no chance that this was the case.
Celtic at Parkhead are up next in midweek, followed by Raith Rovers at home in the Scottish Cup next weekend.
Last edited:
