Aberdeen 3 - 0 St. Mirren

Aberdeen made it 13 games unbeaten with a 3-0 win over St Mirren this afternoon at Pittodrie. Adam Rooney scored his 22nd and 23rd goals of the season and this was the Dons 21st clean sheet of the overall campaign, their 11th in the last 13 league games.

It was a comfortable afternoon but that was only because the Dons put in a very good performance. Willo Flood came back into the side and had a very good game.

All three goals came from balls played into the back post area. On 21 minutes a Pawlett cross was knocked down by Considine and Rooney prodded the ball home. Similar to the last home game, the second goal arrived just after half time when a McGinn cross was headed back by McLean and Rooney drilled the ball home from the edge of the six yard box. Adam should have had a hat-trick before Mark Reynolds completed the scoring on 66 minutes when he headed home direct from a McGinn corner.

Next up Celtic.

match report

With Jonny Hayes missing the next couple of games Derek McInnes was forced into one change from last week. The manager decided to bring Willo Flood back into starting XI so they lined up with Brown in goal, Logan at right back, Considine at left back with Daniels and Reynolds in central defence. Flood and Jack were the central midfielders, Willo did more of the sitting which allowed Ryan to get further forward, although they were both taking up some advanced positions. Pawlett, McGinn and McLean were ahead of them, the movement of all three all afternoon was very good and Rooney was up front.

Kenny McLean lined up against his former team only a few weeks after having left St Mirren and he had a good early chance when in the second minute Ryan Jack picked him out in the box but he did not connect properly with his header. On 6 minutes a terrific cross field pass by Jack found Shay Logan. His cross was met by Rooney at the near post and his cute back heeler appeared to beat Ridgers but the ball just went past the far post.

On 9 minutes fine play down the right by Flood and McGinn set up Logan who put over another good cross. This time he looped it to the back post and Considine knocked it back across goal towards McLean who was not far away from getting a touch.

On 13 minutes a nice little move gave McGinn space out on the right. He floated a ball over but Ridgers came and claimed it. Niall had space so he might have been better driving into the box and then viewing his options.
With 20 minutes gone Aberdeen were knocking the ball about well and there always appeared to be a man spare. But St Mirren were making life difficult, as was the surface.

Flood then crossed for Rooney who put in a good header which appeared to strike Marc McAusland on the arm and went behind for the Dons first corner. It would have been harsh if a penalty had been given. From the corner Rooney's header was knocked off the line and then Reynolds shot was bravely blocked. The Dons did not give it up and McLean played it to Pawlett who went on the overlap. Peter chipped it in and the ball was knocked back by Considine at the back post and Adam Rooney was on hand to prod from point range. Goal number 22 of the season in the 21st minute.

A minute later Adam was only a few inches away from getting his second. A long ball found Pawett who showed great pace to leave the defence for dead. He put a superb ball right across the face of goal but Adam could not quite get there in time.

On 26 minutes Dayton did really well when he beat a couple of Aberdeen players. He looked for Arquin in the box and was slightly unfortunate not to find him as the ball took a kind deflection for the Dons and Logan was able to clear.

On the half hour mark a clearance from skipper Reynolds turned into a great ball when McLean found Pawlett and his shot just went past the post. It was impressive how quickly the Dons turned defence into attack. A few minutes later a run from Pawlett set up McLean and his shot from 20 yards was well hit and Ridgers made a decent save to hold on.

St Mirren then had a good little spell. A quick free kick by Mallan was played into a very decent area but thankfully Arquin was slightly back on his heels and his header rolled through to Brown. The free kick had caught out the Dons defence but thankfully it caught out Arquin as well. A few minutes after that Jason Naismith put over a great cross from the right. He found John McGinn at the back post and his header was sneaking in at Brown's near post but the keeper made a good save flinging himself to his right.

Back came the Dons, Flood got to the byline on 40 minutes but failed to pick out a red jersey. Then two minutes later Flood found a lot of space just outside the area. He decided to look for Considine at the back post but the ball was just too high for him.

A bit like the Ross County first half a couple of weeks ago, after getting the early goal the Dons become a bit sloppy and the game became a midfield battle.

HT

Also like the Ross County game Aberdeen started the second half very much on the front foot and within 80 seconds of the restart they were two up. Considine knocked it down the line to Niall McGinn. From the left he went onto his right foot and floated over a cross which Kenny McLean headed back towards goal and he found Adam Rooney who had an incredible amount of time to take a touch on his knee before drilling it home. I don't even think Adam could believe how much space he had in the area.

On 49 minutes McGinn tried to lob Ridgers but the effort landed on the roof of the net. Adam should have completed his third hat-trick of the season on the hour mark but somehow missed from close range after a left footed cross from McLean. On 63 minutes McGinn, who was excellent again today, fired the ball across the face of goal but no one could get a touch in a red shirt.

The second goal had completely knocked the stuffing out of the visitors and in truth it was a very comfortable afternoon from then on in. St Mirren had come back from two goals down earlier in the season but the Dons never looked like letting them back into this game and on 66 minutes it was game over.

Niall McGinn swung in a corner from the left which Mark Reynolds headed home at the back post. It was a good ball by Niall which the keeper was unable to get to and Mark was able to head the ball into an unguarded net. All three goals had come from balls delivered to the back post area.

On 67 minutes McGinn cut inside and forced Ridgers into a very good save after superb build up play by the Dons. On 68 minutes the Dons first change of the match, Goodwillie on for Pawlett. Then on 71 minutes Ryan Jack headed just over at the near post after another move had ripped the Saints apart. On 76 minutes John McGinn, Kieran Gibbons cousin, tried an effort for the visitors which went well over but to be fair to John he was still working very hard for his team. The second change for the Dons also happened on the 75th minute,
Lawrence Shankland replaced Adam Rooney.

In the 82nd minute Jim Goodwin received one of the biggest cheers of the day when he had a shot which cleared the goal and the Merkland Stand. We think the ball landed up in the Pittodrie Bar. It about summed up the Saints day. On 84 minutes the final change for The Dons. Barry Robson came on for Willo Flood who had a very impressive match.

The Dons could not add any more goals before the end but the Red Army still left extremely happy with what they had seen this afternoon.