27th Dec 2017 Aberdeen 1 Partick Thistle 0 (SPFL Premiership - game 21)

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matches:2017-18: ← 27game 2829 →

	Derek McInnes	Alan Archibald	40y, 5m, 14d

		Jordan Turnbull; Conor Sammon; Andy McCarthy
		Martin Woods; Kris Doolan; Chris Erskine

Adam Rooney (0-1, 61 mins)
Ryan Christie (0-1, 61 mins)
		Danny Devine

Gary Mackay-Steven (Scott Wright, 72 mins); Andrew Considine (Mark Reynolds, 87 mins); Greg Stewart (Dominic Ball, 88 mins)		Steven Lawless (Miles Storey, 57 mins); Andy McCarthy (Kevin Nisbet, 76 mins)

	Joe Lewis	Tomáš Černý	32y, 8m, 17d
	Shay Logan	Paul McGinn	27y, 2m, 5d
	Andrew Considine	Jordan Turnbull	23y, 1m, 27d
	Anthony O'Connor	Danny Devine	25y, 3m, 20d
	Scott McKenna	Niall Keown	22y, 8m, 22d
	Graeme Shinnie	Adam Barton	26y, 11m, 20d
	Kenny McLean	Blair Spittal	22y, 0m, 8d
	Greg Stewart	Ryan Edwards	24y, 1m, 10d
	Gary Mackay-Steven	Conor Sammon	31y, 1m, 21d
	Ryan Christie	Andy McCarthy	19y, 2m, 7d
	Adam Rooney	Steven Lawless	26y, 8m, 15d

			25y, 6m, 25d

	Danny Rogers	Ryan Scully	25y, 1m, 28d
	Mark Reynolds	Milan Nitrianský	27y, 0m, 14d
	Kári Arnason	Kevin Nisbet	20y, 9m, 19d
	Scott Wright	Callum Wilson	18y, 6m, 4d
	Dominic Ball	Miles Storey	23y, 11m, 23d
	Daniel Harvie
	Frank Ross

notes

Both sides generally in playing order.
Thistle filled only 5 of their 7 allocated bench slots.

TTA report

Stout defending and good saves by Cerny kept 2nd top Aberdeen out. Thistle offered little on the break. Barton's feeble free header was the best chance. In the second half poor defending at a throw-in by Devine led to a near-post bundled effort (61). Cerny's fine save ensured it ended 1-0. Bottom again.

Media report

Scott Davie, 27-Dec-2017, bbc.com

Aberdeen cut the gap on Premiership leaders Celtic to eight points with a hard-earned win over Partick Thistle. Adam Rooney slotted home from two yards out from Ryan Christie's cut-back after the hour to make the breakthrough. Rooney had an earlier effort disallowed for a high foot in the build-up, while Greg Stewart and Christie went close. Adam Barton wasted Thistle's best chance with a first-half header, while Tomas Cerny's superb save from Stewart's curling shot kept it at 1-0. While the Dons maintained a three-point advantage in second place over Rangers, defeat returned Thistle to the bottom of the Premiership on goal difference from Ross County, who they host on Saturday in their final game before the winter break.

Aberdeen made a bright start, looking to continue the sort of form that blew away Hibs 4-1 in their last home game. Stewart, on loan from Birmingham City, looked particularly keen to shine, relishing the free role that saw him operate effectively on the left flank and through the middle. He produced a couple of crosses early in the game that caused all sort of problems but Rooney just failed to convert them thanks to some great defending by the visitors. Stewart decided to take more direct action after 18 minutes, cutting inside from the left flank before sending in a right-foot shot that Cerny held at the second attempt. Thistle were forced into some desperate defending at that point but grew in confidence the longer the half progressed. Shay Logan had a half chance and Rooney had a goal disallowed from Stewart's corner, but the visitors survived reasonably comfortably until the break.

With nine first team players out injured and only five men on the bench, Thistle continued to work hard to limit Aberdeen's opportunities and give hope to their hardy 196 travelling fans. The Jags relied on sporadic counter-attacks, Conor Sammon forcing Joe Lewis into a save before setting up Andy McCarthy for a shot that flew wide. Christie, on loan from Celtic, thought he had broken the deadlock after good play from Kenny McLean and Logan sent him clear through the middle. Christie lobbed Cerny as the goalkeeper raced out to meet him, but Ryan Edwards raced back to hack the ball clear off the line and deny the midfielder a certain goal. Edwards also denied Gary Mackay-Steven with an equally important back-post clearance from a driven Stewart cross. But Thistle's resistance was broken after 62 minutes when Christie manoeuvred his way to the right byline before cutting the ball back for Rooney to tuck home his sixth goal of the season. It was no more than Aberdeen deserved after stepping things up after the interval and they nearly had a second when Stewart was denied by a brilliant save from Cerny. The Partick keeper was relieved to see a Christie free-kick land on the roof of the net late on but the Jags now face a vital final game on Saturday against fellow strugglers Ross County.

Reaction

Partick Thistle boss Alan Archibald (speaking to the BBC):

The game plan was to stifle Aberdeen and we largely did that but it was a major disappointment losing the goal we conceded - from a throw-in, essentially - after putting a lot of effort in. After the first 15-20 minutes, a bit of belief came into the boys and we created some chances. It's a huge game against Ross County on Saturday now and hopefully we will get a couple of players back for that one to give some of these lads who have been going every week a boost. We are at home and that is a massive bonus. Tonight's performance was important as we weren't too open, which we have been at times this season, so we can take the positives from the way we defended for the most part.

Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes (speaking to the BBC):

An early goal could have changed the dynamic of the game but I thought Partick were set up really well; they had a game plan to nullify us. At half-time we told the players not to get frustrated. Conditions were horrible, the wind was playing havoc all night and the pitch was a bit slippy. But the goal was fantastic. Ryan was bright as a button and showed real quality and penetration to lay it on a plate for Adam. That's as good as any three points we have had this season. The players have got their just reward for a lot of effort. It wasn't slick like the Hibs game, but it is the same three points and I am really pleased with the clean sheet.

GRIM UP NORTH

● Thistle's unprecedented bench-record continues, now with 16 instances of shortages in this season's competitive action.

● Andy McCarthy reaches a new personal-best tally of 3 consecutive competitive appearances, and is one of seven players currently on such a run.

● Thistle have scored just 0.36 away League goals-per-game this term (4 in 11 games). This is on-course to be an all-time low.

● Thistle have failed to score in 47.6% of their League games this term, and remain on course to register the highest failure-to-score rate of any Thistle side in history.

● Thistle lose an eighth consecutive competitive game versus Aberdeen, the H2H record.

● Alan Archibald's Thistle finish the calendar year with 1 solitary League win away from home, and duly match the all-time club-record for the category. The pathetic stat was first returned in 1898 and was subsequently matched in 1901, 1937, 1939 and 1970.

ongoing sequences:

● 4 consecutive away League defeats; 9th Dec 2017 to date. (Longest run since: 4 defeats; 13th Jan 2012 to 6th Mar 2012. Club-record: 14 defeats; 6th Apr 1912 to 25th Jan 1913.)

● 4 consecutive competitive away defeats; 9th Dec 2017 to date. (Longest run since: 4 defeats; 30th Aug 2014 to 29th Oct 2014. Club-record: 11 defeats; 4th Dec 1897 to 15th Oct 1898.)

● 10 competitive away games without a win; 19th Aug 2017 to date. (Longest run since: 11 games; 24th Feb 2007 to 6th Oct 2007. Club-record: 25 games; 20th Apr 1908 to 28th Aug 1909.)

● 16 away League games without a win; 18th Mar 2017 to date. (Longest run since: 17 games; 16th Aug 2003 to 17th Apr 2004. Club-record: 26 games; 20th Mar 1935 to 29th Aug 1936.)

● 49 consecutive competitive appearances for Adam Barton, 28th Dec 2016 to date, a new personal best. (Longest run since: Steven Lawless - 53 games; 9th Aug 2015 to 15th Oct 2016. Club-record: Johnny Jackson - 313 games; 28th Aug 1926 to 25th Mar 1933.)

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

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