26th Aug 2017 Partick Thistle 3 Aberdeen 4 (SPFL Premiership - game 4)

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matches:2017-18: ← 09game 1011 →

40y, 1m, 13d	Alan Archibald	Derek McInnes

Milan Nitrianský; Blair Spittal; Stuart Bannigan; Kris Doolan; Conor Sammon
Callum Booth; Abdul Osman; Ryan Edwards; Miles Storey; Steven Lawless

Chris Erskine (1-1, 8 mins); Kris Doolan (2-1, 13 mins); Niall Keown (3-3, 54 mins)		Ryan Christie (0-1, 5 mins); Kenny McLean (2-2, pen 42 mins); Scott Wright (2-3, 52 mins); Adam Rooney (3-4, 84 mins)
Blair Spittal (1-1, 8 mins); none (2-1, 13 mins); Blair Spittal (3-3, 54 mins)		Shay Logan (0-1, 5 mins); none (2-2, pen 42 mins); Graeme Shinnie (2-3, 52 mins); Ryan Christie (3-4, 84 mins)
Niall Keown; Jordan Turnbull
Niall Keown (@ 3-4, 90+1 mins)
Stuart Bannigan (Ryan Edwards, 55 mins); Chris Erskine (Steven Lawless, 89 mins); Blair Spittal (Kevin Nisbet, 89 mins)		Greg Stewart (Adam Rooney, 66 mins); Stevie May (Nicky Maynard, 83 mins); Scott Wright (Mark Reynolds, 86 mins)

32y, 4m, 16d	Tomáš Černý	Joe Lewis
26y, 8m, 13d	Milan Nitrianský	Shay Logan
26y, 3m, 0d	Christie Elliott	Graeme Shinnie
22y, 9m, 27d	Jordan Turnbull	Andrew Considine
22y, 4m, 21d	Niall Keown	Anthony O'Connor
26y, 7m, 19d	Adam Barton	Kenny McLean
21y, 8m, 7d	Blair Spittal	Greg Stewart
24y, 11m, 9d	Stuart Bannigan	Scott Wright
30y, 8m, 15d	Kris Doolan	Greg Tansey
30y, 6m, 18d	Chris Erskine	Ryan Christie
30y, 9m, 20d	Conor Sammon	Stevie May

26y, 10m, 23d

24y, 9m, 28d	Ryan Scully	Danny Rogers
26y, 4m, 14d	Steven Lawless	Mark Reynolds
24y, 11m, 19d	Danny Devine	Adam Rooney
23y, 9m, 9d	Ryan Edwards	Nicky Maynard
20y, 5m, 18d	Kevin Nisbet	Gary Mackay-Steven
18y, 10m, 6d	Andy McCarthy	Kári Arnason
19y, 6m, 1d	Mark Lamont	Daniel Harvie

notes

Both sides generally in playing order.

TTA report

Aberdeen opened (5) but Erskine from 20 yards (8) and Doolan from 1 yard (13) scored. A silly pen conceded levelled things (42) then Cerny had a brilliant save. A top corner strike (52), Keown's far post header (54) and a driven cross (84) made it 4-3. Keown was sent off (90). Dons went top, JAGS bottom=.

Media report

Alasdair Lamont, 26-Aug-2017, bbc.com

Adam Rooney's header maintained Aberdeen's winning start to the Scottish Premiership season at the expense of winless Partick Thistle. Chris Erskine and Kris Doolan put Thistle ahead after Ryan Christie's opener, but Kenny McLean levelled from the penalty spot. Scott Wright, with a fine curling effort, then Niall Keown both netted. But substitute Rooney nodded home Christie's cross to send the Dons top of the league. Keown was shown a second yellow card in stoppage time to compound Thistle's misery. The Dons have now won all four of their opening league fixtures, and sit at the Premiership summit with 12 points from 12, while the Jags are still seeking their first points of the season.

Having won on their five previous visits to Firhill, including a 6-0 thumping last time round, Aberdeen had every right to approach the game confidently. Indeed Stevie May had tested Tomas Cerny before 20 seconds had elapsed as Derek McInnes's side began the game purposefully. Thistle failed to heed that warning though and with the home defence dozing, Christie was able to collect Greg Stewart's pass and turn the ball past the keeper with the minimum of fuss. That start must have alarmed Alan Archibald but his side's response was immediate. Erskine created a bit of room just outside the penalty area and although he didn't strike the ball cleanly, it crept beyond the diving Joe Lewis and into the bottom corner. And the home fans' angst turned to delight shortly afterwards when Doolan pounced on a loose ball inside the six-yard box. There was a lull following that flurry of early action, but the game once again sprung to life when Christie went down under a needless shove from Stuart Bannigan and McLean sent Cerny the wrong way from the spot.

There was no let-up in the excitement after the interval and Wright, who scored a hat-trick here in May, again gave notice of his burgeoning talent with a goal of supreme quality, curling the ball over Cerny from the angle of the penalty area. But Thistle's response was swift once more and Keown headed them level from Blair Spittal's corner. McInnes was desperate for all three points to preserve their 100 per-cent record and threw on Rooney alongside May up front. Cruel as it must have felt for Thistle, Aberdeen were rewarded for their valour as the Irishman glanced a Christie cross beyond Cerny. Thistle were angered on a number of occasions by the decision-making of referee Bobby Madden but he had little option other than to show a late second yellow to Keown for a reckless foul on McLean. The home side remain pointless but can take some solace from their contribution to a fabulous game of football.

Reaction

At the other end of the table [from his opposite number], Alan Archibald's Partick Thistle are still seeking their first point of the domestic campaign. He spoke to the BBC:

We put a lot into the game - to score three goals against a good Aberdeen side, we should be taking something from it. There's real disappointment. I think there was a maybe a bit of fear towards the end of the game - I think that comes into it when you've not won a game - and we get a little bit deep. There was a lot of bad defending from both sides, but we put out an attacking line-up and we justified it with some good goals as well. There are positives there, but the negative is we've come away with nothing.

Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes hailed the resilience of Adam Rooney, after the fit-again striker scored the winning goal against Partick Thistle:

I'm pleased for Adam; it's been stop-start with his injuries. He's had to watch others play ahead of him while working his way back. We've got good options on the bench, not just to go like-for-like, but to change it and go 4-4-2. Adam also gives us a bit more height and he's a bit more trustworthy at defending set-plays. But it was more important we got Adam on for what he can do in the opposition box. I thought he did very well to get on to Ryan Christie's cross and it's just the faintest of touches. Adam knows exactly where the goal is and he's done that time and time again for us. We wanted to get into the last eight of the League Cup and win four out of four [in the league]. It's easy saying it, but it's about actually imposing ourselves and going out and doing it. In terms of the international break coming at the wrong time, possibly, but we've been back two months now from the early start for Europe, so I actually think it's something the players have been working towards. We've got a few days off, the ones that aren't away with their country, and we'll be back in preparing for Hearts the following week.

JOY AND PAIN FOR THE MARYHILL MASOCHISTS

● Thistle break their fast of 318 minutes without a goal vs. Aberdeen in typical Jaggy fashion, scoring thrice.

● Chris Erskine becomes the 44th player to reach the fantastic milestone of 50 competitve goals for Partick Thistle.

● Chris Erskine & Kris Doolan are the first pair to be established goal scoring half-centurions and play in the same Thistle team since Dougie Somner & Denis McQuade did so way back in 1978.

● Kris Doolan opens his League account for the season with his first-ever goal against Aberdeen, and has now scored against all 14 of Thistle's SPFL Premiership opponents.

● The number nine is now just one goal away from a half-century in the Scottish Premiership. His tally of 49 is bettered only by Adam Rooney (58) and Leigh Griffiths (65).

● Thistle concede their 5th penalty in the last 9 League games.

● A double assist from the fruitful Blair Spittal takes his goals/assists tally to 6 in just 5 games.

● Niall Keown scores his first goal for Thistle.

● Niall Keown's injury-time dismissal means that that 8 of the last 9 red cards in Thistle's games have went to Jagsmen.

● Niall, who was the match programme cover-star, is the first Jag to score and be sent off in the same game since Derek Young did so in a 3-1 League defeat at Dens Park on Boxing Day, 2006.

● Thistle lose a 6th consecutive home League match to Aberdeen, extending the H2H record run in both the League and Competitive game categories.

● Thistle lose a 7th consecutive competitive fixture against Aberdeen, equalling the joint H2H record runs set in 1952 and 1993.

● Thistle lose their first 4 League matches for the first time since 1981 when there was a run of 5. The category record stands at 8-in-a-row, set in 1898.

ongoing sequences:

● 5 consecutive home League defeats; 7th May 2017 to date. (Longest run since: 5 defeats; 23rd Aug 2003 to 22nd Nov 2003. Club-record: 10 defeats; 5th Dec 1908 to 25th Aug 1909.)

● 7 away League games without a win; 18th Mar 2017 to date. (Longest run since: 7 games; 9th May 2015 to 26th Sep 2015. Club-record: 26 games; 20th Mar 1935 to 29th Aug 1936.)

● 8 consecutive League defeats; 7th May 2017 to date. (Longest run since: 10 defeats; 13th Sep 2003 to 29th Nov 2003. Club-record: 12 defeats; 27th Feb 1909 to 25th Aug 1909.)

● 10 League games without a win; 15th Apr 2017 to date. (Longest run since: 12 games; 9th May 2015 to 26th Sep 2015. Club-record: 26 games; 28th Nov 1908 to 2nd Oct 1909.)

● 31 consecutive competitive appearances for Adam Barton, 28th Dec 2016 to date, a new personal best. (Longest run since: Kris Doolan - 39 games; 15th Oct 2016 to 5th Aug 2017. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games; 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

● 64 away League games without a penalty award, 1st Mar 2014 to date. (A new club-record.)

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