Aberdeen 1-0 Dundee United: Peter Ambrose hits late winner as Dons remain unbeaten

Report as in-form Aberdeen score a late winner to beat Dundee United; Dons level on points with leaders Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership; Jimmy Thelin's side host third-placed Rangers on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports

Monday 28 October 2024 09:48, UK

Manager Jimmy Thelin lauded Aberdeen for "behaving like a very strong team" after they held their nerve amid the tension to beat Dundee United 1-0 and remain unbeaten this season.

Substitute Peter Ambrose scored the only goal of the game in the 84th minute, just two minutes after entering the fray, on a tense evening at a packed Pittodrie.

The result means the Dons' stunning 15-game unbeaten run under Jimmy Thelin continues - with 14 of those matches victories. They remain six points clear of third-placed Rangers, who head to Pittodrie on Wednesday - live on Sky Sports.

There were three changes to the Dons side that started the 2-2 draw at Celtic Park the previous weekend as Ante Palaversa, Duk and Esther Sokler replaced Graeme Shinnie, Leighton Clarkson and the injured Kevin Nisbet.

United boss Jim Goodwin - a former Aberdeen manager - made one alteration to the side that kicked off the dramatic 3-2 victory over Hibernian as Kristijan Trapanovski came in for Miller Thomson.

There was a sense of anticipation among the home support ahead of kick-off in the Granite City, but the Dons were largely stifled early on by a well-organised United side, happy to drop deep in numbers, close off space and hit on the
counter-attack.

The hosts' first notable opportunity came in the 24th minute when Topi Keskinen latched on to a long diagonal pass from Jack MacKenzie and looked to be clean through, but Kevin Holt got back to make a vital tackle on the edge of the box before the Finn could pull the trigger.

Despite enjoying the majority of the possession, the Dons' only attempt of the first half came in the 33rd minute when Palaversa rifled a low shot just wide from 25 yards out after Declan Gallagher cleared a MacKenzie cross into his path.

United looked dangerous on the sporadic occasions they ventured forward and Sam Dalby and Luca Stephenson both headed over the bar before the interval.

Having seen his side fail to score in the first half of a home league game for the first time this season, Thelin sent on Shayden Morris for Keskinen at the start of the second period and within a minute of the restart the substitute burst down the right and fizzed a low delivery across the six-yard box that found no takers.

The Dons threatened again when MacKenzie surged into the box and cut the ball back for Jamie McGrath, whose low shot was diverted behind by Jack Walton.

The United keeper made another big save when he pushed Morris' angled shot wide after the winger had played an incisive one-two with Sokler to get himself free in the box.

Aberdeen thought they had gone ahead in the 70th minute when Sokler headed a Morris cross towards goal, but Walton dived superbly down to his right to claw it out.

Just as it looked like the Dons were going to be frustrated, however, Ambrose forced the ball in from six yards out after Gavin Molloy's cross had been knocked back into the danger area by Nicky Devlin at the back post.

What the managers said...

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin: "It was good to see the players stay calm and not stress.

"The energy that was coming from the supporters helped us keep believing and try to push for a winning goal and also defend well at the end.

"We just kept running and behaved like a very strong team, which was nice.

"There is a strong team spirit, you saw that with the way they celebrated at the end. I hope everyone enjoyed it.

"We want to enjoy today and then focus on the next game tomorrow. Today it's just about enjoying the three points."

Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin: "I can't fault the players for their effort and commitment, it was almost a brilliant defensive performance.

"Our concentration levels were great the whole game but we got done with the ball to the back post and it fell kindly for Ambrose.

"I can't have many complaints with the result, Aberdeen were better than us on the day.

"Credit to Jimmy Thelin, he made changes in the second half and it was obvious they were overloading us in the wide areas. They are well organised, they have a lot of speed and can mix it up.

"It's a disappointing result but it's our first defeat on the road. I said to the players sometimes you have to hold your hands up and admit the opposition were the better team."