A dismal evening at Pittodrie saw Aberdeen dumped out the Europa League by Croatian outfit HNK Rijeka.

The tie was put beyond the Scottish Premiership side after just 32 minutes, thanks to goals from Stjepan Loncar and Antonio Colak, whilst Dons midfielder Funso Ojo was shown red for two bookable offences.

The defeat capped off a terrible week for Derek McInnes' men, who lost 1-0 in Paisley against St Mirren at the weekend, on the back of the 2-0 defeat in Rijeka in the first leg.

The Reds must try and pick themselves up when they travel down the A90 to face Scottish Championship side Dundee in the last 16 of the Betfred Cup on Sunday.

Story of the match

Despite the return of top goalscorer Sam Cosgrove, who had initially been ruled out of the game with a hamstring injury, the home side got off to the worst possible start with just 10 minutes on the clock.

An Aberdeen corner was easily cleared, and with only Shay Logan left in defence to deal with any counter attack, the Croatians raced up the field and Stjepan Loncar calmly flicked in a cross from Zoran Kvrzic at the near post to get the visitors a precious away goal.

The Dons were unable to respond to that huge setback, and were guilty of some extremely poor passing all over the pitch, which was the cause of huge frustration for the Pittodrie crowd.

Matters were made even worse 10 minutes later, when midfielder Funso Ojo was given his marching orders for a second yellow card, after a poorly timed lunge on the Rijeka left.

Derek McInnes' team were able to knock Rijeka out of Europe four years ago, but on 32 minutes the Croatians ensured that the exact opposite would happen this time.

The visitors were able to capitalise on Ojo's dismissal and drive forward with ease, and striker Antonio Colak headed home after rising about defender Greg Leigh in the air.

That goal effectively put any hopes of a Dons comeback to bed, and the atmosphere around Pittodrie rapidly became flat.

A complete disaster

Sitting on a comfortable lead, Rijeka were then able to control the game in the second half, without over-exerting themselves or having to work hard.

The overwhelming majority of the home fans stayed to get behind their team, but Aberdeen's reluctance to get numbers over the halfway line to press the ball in the second period, suggested that the white flag had already been flown and that damage limitation was now in order.

The pace of the game dramatically dropped as the half went on, as Rijeka cruised into the Europa League play off round where they will face Belgian side AA Gent, who recorded a 4-1 aggregate victory over AEK Larnaca of Cyprus.

Aberdeen have now lost their last three games in all competitions, and many Reds fans are asking questions of Derek McInnes, who will know that a similar showing at Dundee in the cup on Sunday will only further those doubts.

Takeaways from the match

Tactically all over the place

Despite trying to get off to a quick start, the Dons never even looked like scoring, even before being reduced to 10 men.

Central defenders Scott McKenna and Andrew Considine where unable to feed the midfield and isolated striker Sam Cosgrove with any decent passes, and instead opted for aimless balls over the top which cheaply conceded any possession. The likes of Funso Ojo and Niall McGinn were far too hesitant on the ball, and were also guilty of giving the ball away on numerous occasions.

Ojo's dismissal forced manager McInnes into a tactical reshuffle, bringing on teenage central midfielder Dean Campbell in place of winger McGinn, but even his introduction could not change the pattern of the game, as well as his team's inability to keep the ball and relieve any pressure.

Defensively the Reds looked suspect all night, and the two goals conceded were simple crosses into the box that were not dealt with.

A worrying trend?

Besides admirable losses in Europe to La Liga side Real Sociedad in 2014, and Burnley of the English Premier League last year, Aberdeen have once again let themselves down in Europa League qualifying.

Derek McInnes had previously suffered defeats against Kazak side Kairat Almaty, NK Maribor of Slovenia and Apollon Limassol of Cyprus in the early rounds of European qualification in his six years in charge at Pittodrie.

The Dons have been on the wrong side of some poor refereeing in the past, but once again it was their own decision making and tactical blunders that have seen them crash out in the competition's preliminary phase.

 

 

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