Aberdeen vs Dundee United. Scottish Premiership.
PittodrieAttendance6,305.
Match report and highlights as Jonny Hayes and Christian Ramirez are on target in each half against Dundee United at Pittodrie; Aberdeen win in their opening Scottish Premiership game of the season
Sunday 1 August 2021 21:07, UK
Aberdeen eased their way to victory in the opening match of their cinch Premiership campaign thanks to goals from Jonny Hayes and Christian Ramirez in an energetic performance against Dundee United.
The Dons, fresh from their Europa Conference League qualifying victory over BK Hacken, made only one change to the starting XI that lined up in Gothenburg, but showed no signs of tiredness as they pressed and harried Tam Courts' side.
United struggled to get into the game, with their best chances coming as a result of Aberdeen causing their own problems at the back.
The opening exchanges were a sign of things to come, with Jay Emmanuel-Thomas squirting an early shot wide and Ramirez claiming for a penalty after his own shot came off Charlie Mulgrew's elbow.
Neither goalkeeper was overly busy in the first half, though Aberdeen certainly held a territorial advantage, which paid off when they opened the scoring after 27 minutes.
There was a hint of offside about Hayes' run in behind the visitors' defence, but Lewis Ferguson's ball over the top was a delight and with the assistant referee's flag staying down, Hayes clipped the ball right-footed past Benjamin Siegrist from an angle.
United improved in the closing stages of the half, but the biggest test for Joe Lewis came when Liam Smith's cross was knocked down by Jamie Robson, with the ball coming off Andy Considine before the goalkeeper smothered the danger.
However, their hopes of coming back into the game after the break were extinguished when Aberdeen doubled their lead six minutes after the interval.
American striker Ramirez was the man who bulleted home the header, but the star turn came from Calvin Ramsay. The Dons right-back, who turned 18 on Saturday, spun in behind Robson on the right flank and whipped in a superb cross that made his team-mate's job easy.
There were a raft of changes in the second half as Courts' men tried to find a way back but Aberdeen always seemed comfortable in sweeping up anything the Tangerines could muster, with Lewis reduced to a sweeping role.
If there was a downside for Aberdeen, it was a late injury suffered by the impressive Funso Ojo. The Belgian was involved in a 50-50 challenge with Robson and came off worse, forcing his late withdrawal from the action with a lower leg injury.
Aberdeen boss Stephen Glass: "It was a great performance, especially first half. Performing strongly at home bodes well for the season. As a standalone, it was an exceptional performance.
"The players looked very assured in their choices which comes down to decision-making and the players stood up to the physical challenge and kept their discipline.
"We can't ask any more than that. We've got to be able to cope with that and our group look like they can."
Dundee United boss Tam Courts: "It was great in terms of seeing the fans back in, but the overriding feeling from me is one of frustration that Aberdeen didn't have to work too hard for the goals.
"It's not something that you can normally accuse our team of. We probably looked passive because we had a good shape and structure but we were guilty of sloppy play and gifting it back to Aberdeen. We looked dangerous when we did string some passes together.
"I'm disappointed we haven't been able to play better for longer in the game and we're not accustomed to losing goals sloppily, so it's quite frustrating."
Aberdeen travel to face Livingston in the Scottish Premiership next Sunday at 3pm while Dundee United host Rangers on Saturday, live on Sky Sports Football; kick-off 12.30pm.
