Corner Taken Quickly... || Aberdeen 1-1 Motherwell
- Ruaraidh Blackwood
- Nov 13
- 8 min read
For the third time this season, and what felt like the eighth, we played Aberdeen. Away from home again, The Well were looking to maintain their 100% record over the Dandy Dons after a frustrating and disappointing outing at Hampden. Aberdeen were looking to build on a decent away win at Killie and a brilliant draw in Cyprus.
Here's how we saw it:
The Teams
Aberdeen lined up in a very similar set-up to how they appeared against Killie. The slightly more open and attacking 3-4-3 system was preferred to the reported 5-4-1 against AEK Larnaca in midweek.
A settled last line of defence, with Mitov the ever-present stopper and a back 3 of Knoester, Milne, and Devlin, the back 3 stayed narrow throughout, allowing the width of the game to come more from those in front of them.
The only change in the midfield was the introduction of Gyamfi for Jensen. The wing-back had been struggling for fitness, and had been in and out of the side since picking up a Hamstring Injury in pre-season. Nevertheless, he was preferred to eight-sided Jensen. The rest of the midfield was filled by Shinnie, Polvara, and Lobban - a man who looks like he could be a handful on his day.
The front three of Karlsson, Lazetić and Armstrong were consistent with the last three games too, with the goalscorer being the only one to play the full 90.
Motherwell named two changes in the starting 11 that fell to St Mirren with an abject "pfft". In came Welsh and Slattery, with Said and Gordon dropped to the bench.
It's a line-up and formation we have gotten to know very well of late, but there was more than a bit of fluidity to our attack, with Slattery and Just both playing more of a free role than the rigid positioning would suggest.
Our width very much came from Tawanda off the right and Longelo off the left, however. The former, not particularly finding the rhythm and productivity that he perhaps has thus far this campaign, was hooked for Said on 65 minutes.
The rest of the Motherwell subs were mostly consistent with the flow of the game.
For example, the decision to change Slattery for Charles-Cook with 10 to play made sense, with the game started to open up and Aberdeen trying to push forward for a winner. The introduction of a more traditional winger gave us the ability to find the gaps behind the on-rushing Lobban and narrower back 3.
The Story of the Match
It was a tight and tense opening 45 for both sides, with chances and positive possession being reasonably scarce.
The Steelmen, however, did look the better. A flurry of early fouls resulted in Gyamfi going into the books on 16 minutes and it spoke to what could've been a long afternoon for the German, going man-to-man with Tawanda.
One of these early fouls perhaps should've resulted in the opener. A long ball to the back post broke and eventually found Watt. His floated cross found Slattery just outside the 6-yard box, and the talisman's touch and volley forced Mitov into a spectacular close range save. A heck of a let-off for the Dons.
A corner not long after then gave us one more big chance early on. The ball breaking to the edge of the box again, this time finding Maswanhise, the Warrior's thunderous shot deflected agonisingly wide of Mitov's near post.
Aberdeen weren't without their chances though, too. A delightful cross from a dead ball sent in by Karlsson found Lazetić entirely unmarked, but the former AC Milan man could only cushion the ball wide of Ward's right post. A let off of our own.
Halftime soon came, and for the first time in a while it didn't feel like we needed radical change, just more ruthlessness when in the final third.
Aberdeen made two changes at the break, with the cautioned Gyamfi and Stuart Armstrong making way for Gavin Molloy and Topi Keskinen, respectively. Armstrong had failed to make any sort of impact on the game - to the point that I didn't even know he was playing - and Gyamfi looked a man in trouble of not finishing the game.
The second half started as the first ended, with Motherwell enjoying the bulk of possession but taking our time actually attempting to do anything with it.
A decent interchange between Longelo and Watt allowed the full-back space to attack in behind Lobban, bearing down on the penalty box. The resulting pass to Just gave the midfielder just enough time to get his shot away, which looked far closer to the top right corner at first glance than it was. Enough to get me out my seat, but not for long.
This began a period of Aberdeen starting to find their feet again, with Karlsson and Molloy going close.
Then a lapse of concentration gave Aberdeen the opening. A breakdown of possession found Shinnie, whose inch-perfect ball found Karlsson just beyond the centre circle. With bodies out of position, Aberdeen countered in a 3v2 situation. Our inability to mark tightly gave the striker all the time he needed to fire home from just outside the box. An argument can definitely be made that Ward should've done better with the shot - considering it was about thigh height and nowhere near the side netting - but nonetheless we found ourselves behind. Again.
And, again, it shifted us back into control.
A corner conceded by Shinnie gave us another chance to fire a ball into the mixer and test the Aberdeen defence with an aerial assault. Or so we thought.
A cleverly-taken quick free kick by Slattery caught everyone in red napping, andfound Just on the edge of the 6-yard box. The Kiwi made no mistake and bundled the ball past Mitov.
And I can't help but think this is déjà vu...
Motherwell were back on terms, and looking the far more likely to score.
On came Said and Hendry for Tawanda and Ap Stam, both looking like a burst of energy that may help turn the tide of the game.
However, even after the adding Charles-Cook to the mix, Aberdeen stood firm despite our best efforts.
A multitude of stoppages towards the end of the game meant the subs we made couldn't really have a proper impact, but a point gained is a point gained. We all know how much we've struggled over the last few years (and even sometimes this campaign) to finish games so to come away with a point is still a positive.
Analysis
Statistically, this game could be interpreted 8 ways from Tuesday.
In the first half, possession was split 59/41 in favour of the Steelmen, a stat we're more than used to seeing nowadays, with 6 shots taken to Aberdeen's 2. However the only described "big chance" fell in the Dons' favour, being Lazetić's effort going narrowly wide.
This confused me slightly, as I would have absolutely described Slattery's touch and volley as a "big chance", given it was on target and forced a brilliant save from Mitov.
The story of our build-up can also be summarised with the stats, with the Well putting in 17 crosses in the first half alone, to Aberdeen's 7. However, a measly 18% completion rate backs up JBA's thoughts that we need to be more clinical and sharp in the final third.
Defensively, it's almost impossible to seperate the sides, with ground duels won being split 53/47 in favour of the boys in sky blue, and aerial duels being split exactly evenly.
Both teams also had a 67% tackle completion rate, however Motherwell had far higher numbers in interceptions and ball recoveries with an 8 to 1 and 26 to 19 difference, respectively. The only metric where Aberdeen had higher numbers, defensively, is clearances. This very much speaks to an opening 45 that was played almost entirely in the Aberdeen half. Compounding this, Aberdeen also had 9 goal kicks to Motherwell's 2.
The second half can be seen to have brought more Motherwell domination without end product, and indeed Aberdeen frustration.
The possession stat is... stark. Motherwell enjoyed 70% of the ball, with 290 accurate passes to Aberdeen's measly 89.
However, both teams registered the same amount of shots with 4, with the Well slightly edging the shots on target stat.
Motherwell also entered Aberdeen's final third almost double the amount of times in the second half, with nearly 80% pass completion within that area.
Aberdeen very much seemed set up in the second half to frustrate and almost strangle Motherwell's open play, then be ruthless on the counter. Exactly how their goal came about.
These stats are easily manipulated, however, so please take everything with a pinch of salt and a pair of claret and amber-tinted specs.
For example, Aberdeen - despite having only 60% of the shots Motherwell took - equalled our shots inside the box stat. This could easily be expressed as being "Motherwell had all of the ball and didn't know what to do with it". And how many times have we heard that.
I guess what I'm actually trying to say is that, on another day, this game could have been both far more comfortable for the Well. But also, it absolutely could've been out of sight for us. If Aberdeen were on better form, or were more confident in front of goal, or even had taken any of their numerous chances, we could've been evaluating a very different game.
To sum up...
How do we sum up this game? I think the best way is, "momentum".
After the dismal defeat to St Mirren in the cup, you'd be forgiven for thinking that, coming into this game, this could be the beginning of a long and tiresome slump.
The most important thing was picking ourselves up and getting ready to do battle again. Aberdeen were no fools, having been trying to do the same thing themselves in spite of their dismal start. But even if it ended with points shared, there's still a sense of positivity around the club.
We are absolutely building on something here. I know we keep banging on about "keep the faith" but I still firmly believe we've another gear or two to find with this squad. It might need some extra bodies in January (we're planning a whole article on where we think needs strengthening and who we'd fancy, so stay tuned for that) but I'd be so bold as to say that this could be the year, and this could be the squad, to finally let us taste Hampden victory once again.
This is a team that is greater than the sum of its parts. What JBA has built is a group of players that complement each others' strengths, and does its best to alleviate its weaknesses. And that's exciting.
If you've gotten this far, and if you've enjoyed, there's even more in-depth stuff that's better than this available in Issue 2 of the Fanzine, on sale now.
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