Mackay-Steven the key man again as Dons beat Hibs

Posted Sunday, February 03, 2019 by PA

Gary Mackay-Steven took his goal tally against Hibernian to six in 18 months to earn Aberdeen a 2-1 victory at Easter Road.

The visitors produced the perfect response to Oli Shaw’s early opener to lead by the 22nd minute thanks to goals from Andrew Considine and the recalled Mackay-Steven, who later missed a penalty.

But the victory came at a cost as goalkeeper Joe Lewis and top goalscorer Sam Cosgrove went off injured in the first half and will be major doubts for Wednesday’s Ladbrokes Premiership encounter with Rangers.

Hibs – led by caretaker manager Eddie May – had some chances to level but went down to their second league defeat in a row at Easter Road after only losing one in the previous 12 months.

Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes brought in Stevie May but still managed to fit Greg Stewart into a central role in a front three.

Hibs matched Aberdeen’s three-man central defence with Australia international Mark Milligan at the heart of it following his return from Asian Cup duty. There were no starts for any of the hosts’ three deadline-day signings – Gael Bigirimana, Marc McNulty and Darnell Johnson.

The home team started well. Stevie Mallan had a shot parried before Shaw was allowed to drive in from the left and fire inside Lewis’s near post from 22 yards in the ninth minute.

Aberdeen were level inside three minutes after bombarding the Hibs goal from Stewart’s flighted free-kick. Cosgrove and Tommie Hoban had efforts blocked in the goalmouth before Considine nodded home from close range.

Cosgrove did not last much longer after going down with a hamstring problem.

Stewart saw a well-struck volley saved before his long-range effort led to Aberdeen’s second. Keeper Ofir Marciano could not hold the low drive and his second stop from Stevie May fell for Mackay-Steven to tap home.

It was his and Aberdeen’s eighth game against Hibs since he joined the Dons at the start of last season, with Mackay-Steven scoring in four of those including a hat-trick in December 2017’s 4-1 win.

Hibs were struggling to get close to the Aberdeen goal but Mallan was inches wide with a 30-yard free-kick which had Lewis scrambling so much that he banged his head on the post. With the Englishman appearing dazed, Tomas Cerny came on for his debut.

Substitute James Wilson shot just wide from 30 yards after Marciano had gifted him the ball but the Israeli redeemed himself by saving Mackay-Steven’s spot-kick in the 50th minute after Darren McGregor had clipped Lewis Ferguson’s heels.

Hibs brought on Bigirimana for a debut and began to dominate possession, but David Gray and Florian Kamberi could not make the most of headed opportunities.

McNulty came on midway through the half and immediately had a shot diverted over before Cerny saved well from Paul Hanlon’s header.

Aberdeen had chances to wrap things up with Wilson at the heart of their counter-attacks. The on-loan Manchester United forward set up Stewart with a wonderful cross which his partner failed to get hold of, before running from the halfway line and forcing a good save from Marciano.

Wilson squandered a glorious chance in stoppage time after being set up by Stewart but Aberdeen held on to move into third place above Kilmarnock.