St. Johnstone 0 - 2 Aberdeen

Aberdeen got their Scottish Cup campaign off to a great start as they eased into the 4th round with a comfortable 2-0 win. The Dons played well and amassed twenty shots at goal with eleven of them on target. It took substitute Ben Thornley to break the deadlock 60 seconds after replacing Roberto Bisconti. Darren Young secured the win with a fine strike in the dying seconds.

Aberdeen kicked off and started strongly, but McNaughton did some fine backtracking in the 3rd minute to deny Djebaili a shot at goal. The Dons went close in the 7th minute when Hartley upended Darren Young 30 yards out. Robbie Winters stepped up and curled the ball round the wall only to see Miller make a magnificent save low to his right hand side. Bisconti had a strike two minutes later, but it went wildly over the crossbar. The Dons were dominant at this stage and Winters led the Saints defence a merry dance in the 11th minute, forcing a corner on the left. As the corner was cleared, McNaughton swung in a perfect cross for Dadi, but the striker headed weakly at Miller. In the 17th minute McNaughton went on a 50 yard run only to deliver a poor pass on the edge of the Saints penalty area. The home team had their first shot at goal in the 20th minute when Hartley hit a sweet 20-yard drive, which Esson gathered safely. The Dons replied immediately when a Dadi effort was blocked 12 yards out. Derek Whyte picked up the first yellow card of the match for his first foul of the game, but the Dons went close again in the 26th minute when Guntveit released Derek Young wide on the left. The Norwegian made his way into the box to collect the return, but his shot was deflected wide. [audio:not dancing]

St. Johnstone went close on the half-hour mark when McCluskey hit the woodwork following a deep corner. St. Johnstone were coming more into the match, but it was the Dons who went close in the 33rd minute. Young once more was causing problems on the left. Dadi met his cross, but his shot was blocked and Bisconti hit the rebound over the crossbar. The Dons should have taken the lead a minute later. With the keeper down, Dadi or Young simply needed to stroke the ball home, but somehow the effort was cleared by Forsyth.

Play was now raging from end to end and McNaughton did well to thwart a Djebaili effort in the 40th minute. Three minutes later Cato Guntveit blocked on the penalty spot to deny the visitors once more. At the other end, the Norwegian had the ball cleared from his toes, as he looked set to shoot. Seconds later the referee brought an exciting 45 minutes to an end.

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The Dons made a strong start to the second half and went close in the opening minute when Dadi was denied after good work between Derek Young and Bisconti. McAllister went close in the 48th minute when he hit a 25-yard drive that went inches over. The Dons should have taken the lead a minute later when a powerful run by Derek Young set up Winters. The striker tried to chip Miller, but also chipped the ball over the goal. In the 56th minute Thornley replaced Bisconti after the Belgian had picked up a knock. The Englishman made an immediate impact by netting within 60 seconds. McAllister set him up on the edge of the box and he curled the ball beyond Miller to give the Dons a deserved lead.

With 70 minutes gone, McGuire prevented a certain goal. Russell probed down the right and cut inside. Just as he was set to pull the trigger, McGuire made a lunging tackle to block the effort. A minute later Esson had to punch clear as St Johnstone tried to find an equaliser. Russell went close again in the 75th minute when he unleashed a terrific 20-yard drive, which Esson did well to block. [audio:panic football] A minute later Thornley had an opportunity to extend the Dons lead, but chose to cut back rather than shoot. The Dons had the ball in the net again in the 80th minute, but the linesman controversially chalked it off. Thornley had hit a shot from the edge of the box, which Miller parried. After a bit of pinball inside the box, Winters netted, but the far side linesman had raised his flag.

Darren Young had a chance to get on the score sheet in the 90th minute but his effort was tame. He made up for it 30 seconds later when he hit a half volley into the corner of the net from a great Dadi cross. [audio:confidence]