Aberdeen 2 - 0 Kilmarnock

Aberdeen made in two wins out of two in the SPFL with a comfortable victory over Kilmarnock this afternoon. It was a very impressive performance for Aberdeen who were very good for 70 minutes before the game petered out. Graeme Shinnie, who was outstanding all afternoon, scored his first goal for the club after a superb strike with the outside of the foot which went into the roof of the net. Adam Rooney doubled the lead in the second half when he converted from the penalty spot after Willo Flood was fouled in the box. The Dons could have scored more but Quin headed against the post and Killie keeper Jamie MacDonald number a couple of good saves.

match report

Derek McInnes made three changes to the side that faced Kairat Almaty at Pittodrie on Thursday night. Considine, Pawlett and Goodwillie dropped to the bench and were replaced by Flood, Quinn and Rooney.
Danny Ward retained his place in goal looking to build on the clean sheet that he enjoyed during his first Ladbrokes Premiership outing at Tannadice last Sunday. A back four of Logan, Taylor, Quinn and Shinnie were tasked with helping Ward in his quest for back to back clean sheets in the league.

Flood returned to the team after an impressive display against Dundee United taking up a position alongside Jack in front of the defence. Hayes, McGinn and McLean lined up in front of them to provide support for Rooney.

Kilmarnock made three changes of their own with Magennis, Johnston and Findlay dropping out for Ashcroft, O'Hara and McKenzie.

The Dons had the first effort of the match when Hayes tried to catch MacDonald out with a free-kick from 25 yards in the 3rd minute, his effort sailed wide of the post.

The match started with quite a slow pace with the Dons taking the opportunity to size up their opponents who had lined up in a pretty defensive 4-5-1 formation in an effort to avoid leaking goals as easily as they did on the opening day against Dundee. The attacking threat from the visitors would come from Kris Boyd who had scored in his previous two visits to Pittodrie with Kilmarnock.

In the 13th minute McGinn found some space to drive towards the Killie box, with options left and right he elected to shoot and forced MacDonald into a smart save to turn the ball round the post. McGinn took the corner short to Hayes and his cross was met by Quinn, the defender was unlucky to see his effort come back off the woodwork with the keeper beaten.

Shinnie was starting in the left-back position where he made his name and was starting to get forward and cause problems for the Kilmarnock defence. His first cross found Logan at the back post before another cross moments later found Rooney, neither player could do much with their headers but you got the impression that they would get more similar chances if Shinnie kept getting into such key areas.

Westlake was the first player to go into the book for a rash challenge on Hayes as Killie had to deal with sustained pressure from the left. In the 23rd minute McLean tried his luck with a shot from 25 yards but MacDonald was equal to it.

Higginbotham was next to go into the book for Killie after a cynical challenge on McGinn which broke up a promising Aberdeen counter-attack. With half an hour played it was still 0-0, a corner was partially cleared to Flood but his effort was deflected behind.

McGinn had an opportunity to put the ball in the box again with a free-kick 25 yards from goal, his delivery was met by Logan and MacDonald did well to block his powerful header. McLean tried to retrieve the rebound but Killie managed to scramble the ball clear.

The Dons defence were called into action when Robinson set Higginbotham racing towards the box, Taylor stood his ground and made a perfectly timed challenge to stop the winger in his tracks. The defender decided to try his luck up the other end after finding himself 35 yards from goal unchallenged, his strike hit the side netting but it was a decent effort.

In the 37th minute Aberdeen took the lead after a determined run from Hayes. Hayes drove through the centre of the Kilmarnock defence before getting the break of the ball in a 50/50, the ball fell to Shinnie inside the Killie area and he showed great composure to curl the ball past MacDonald with the outside of his left foot. The Dons had enjoyed a break to get the goal but it was well deserved on the balance of play and served as a reward for Shinnie and Hayes who had been a real menace to the visitors.

At this stage Kilmarnock did not represent a real attacking threat and it was Taylor who had the next chance of the match, his first time volley from a McGinn corner was ambitious but ended up in the Merkland Stand.
Aberdeen went in at half-time a goal in front and it was the least that they deserved.

Kilmarnock started the second half on the front foot when Robinson found space between the two centre halves to head over the bar in the 48th minute.

In the 55th minute Aberdeen were handed a chance to pretty much out the game out of sight when they were awarded a penalty after Ashcroft brought down Flood after a positive forward run from the midfielder. Rooney stepped up and confidently sent MacDonald the wrong way to make it 2-0.

Gary Locke responded by replacing O'Hara with former Don Josh Magennis. Despite the change Aberdeen looked set to dominate fizzing cross after cross into the Killie area. Ashcroft went some way to redeeming himself to deny Rooney with the striker set to tap the ball in from 6 yards.

Despite being involved in an energy sapping Europa League tie with Kairat Almaty in midweek The Dons looked much sharper, stronger and fitter than their counterparts who looked like they were struggling for confidence.

In the 65th minute McInnes made a double change bringing on Smith and Considine for Hayes and McLean. The changes meant that Shinnie moved into midfield alongside Jack with Considine taking his place at left-back.

Killie made another change of their own when Kiltie replaced Higginbotham, it had been a frustrating afternoon for the former Partick Thistle man.

Flood picked up a yellow card for a foul on Hamill after the Killie midfielder stole possession from him inside The Dons half.

Smith looked to have made an almost immediate impact when he spun away from Smith before playing in Logan, MacDonald did well to keep his effort out. The Dons were not content to sit in the two goal lead and were looking to spring forward at every opportunity. Logan charged down the right before finding Shinnie over on the left, he looked to have dragged his shot wide but Smith was almost able to direct it towards goal from 12 yards.

Boyd had been starved of service for most of the match but in the 72nd minute Kiltie did manage to find him in the box after a confident run down the right, the striker got too much on his header and knocked the ball past the near post.

As the game entered the final ten minutes Kilmarnock tried their best to stage a comeback but The Dons were able to keep most attacks at arm's length with Ward having very little to do.

In the 81st minute Considine replicated the sort of attacking play that Shinnie produced in the first half to get to
the byline and pick out Logan at the back post, Shay got over the strike but it was straight at MacDonald.
The final substitution was made when Goodwillie replaced McGinn with just over 5 minutes of normal time remaining. The striker was on the end of a strong challenge from Connolly which earned the Killie skipper a yellow card.

In the end The Dons played out the closing stages of the match comfortably and can now take the opportunity to re-charge the batteries ahead of a trip to Fir Park next Saturday.