Aberdeen vs Kilmarnock. Scottish Premiership.
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Match report as Luis 'Duk' Lopes acores twice in Aberdeen's win against Kilmarnock, lifting them up to third in the Scottish Premiership
Saturday 8 April 2023 18:53, UK
Aberdeen's fantastic recent revival continued as a Luis 'Duk' Lopes double sealed a 2-0 win over Kilmarnock which lifted them up to third place in the Scottish Premiership.
The Cape Verde international opened the scoring after less than 20 seconds and added a second just before the hour mark as Barry Robson's Dons dominated former boss Derek McInnes' Kilmarnock side.
The opener could not have been easier for the home side as they sliced through the visitors straight from kick-off.
Bojan Miovski played the final ball through to Duk, who steadied himself before firing low past Sam Walker from just inside the area.
The flying start gave the Dons a platform from which to dominate the first half, although it was beyond the half-hour mark before Liam Scales' back-post header from a Leighton Clarkson free-kick next threatened the Killie goal.
The visitors came into the game in the last 10 minutes of the first half, with Christian Doidge heading wide and seeing Kelle Roos save well from a smart volley just before the break.
Aberdeen threatened in between, with Walker saving smartly from Miovski before a penalty claim was turned down when Jonny Hayes went flying in a tussle with Daniel Armstrong.
Between the challenge and the subsequent VAR check there was a flashpoint as Killie youngster David Watson challenged Duk out wide before kicking the ball off the Dons man.
That sparked a melee as players from both sides waded in, but eventually only Watson saw a yellow card.
The visitors were first to threaten after the break as Lewis Mayo struck wide, but the home side were soon back in their rhythm and Clarkson was let down by his first touch when Duk's pass looked to have sent him clear of the defence.
The pair were involved again as Aberdeen doubled their advantage.
Clarkson's superb pass found Miovski and, while his effort was mis-hit across the face of goal, Duk raced in to tap home at the back post for his 17th goal of the season.
With the points secure, Aberdeen brought on 16-year-old Alfie Bavidge for a taste of first-team football and the striker was keen to make an impact, flashing a shot wide of target from the edge of the box just moments after coming on.
Scott Robinson touched home for Kilmarnock at the back post following an injury-time corner, but after a lengthy VAR check the effort was ruled offside.
Aberdeen boss Barry Robson:
"I think there was a period for about 25 minutes in the second half where you saw what we are as team. We were fast, aggressive and looked electric.
"The players gave me everything today and we were so quick. We're hard to deal with when we're like that.
"We got a clean sheet again which is four out of of five clean sheets and Duk is on a good run of form. We need to keep him up to speed and he's been outstanding."
Kilmarnock boss Derek McInnes:
"It was a horrendous start for us. You need to applaud the finish from Duk, but it was certainly not the start that we were looking for and it was a bit of a shock to us.
"We struggled to recover for the first 10-15 minutes. I think Aberdeen started the game far more aggressively, but we came back into it and I think half-time came at the wrong time for us.
"Our problem is that we need to make sure the game is 0-0 for longer, and then at the start of the second half we need to make sure it stays 1-0 for longer.
"We helped them on their way with the second goal. We've a lot to learn on that side of it, but we had a lot of positives to take from it as well."
Aberdeen's next Scottish Premiership match is away to Ross County on April 14, live on Sky Sports. Kick-off 7.45pm.
Kilmarnock host Celtic on April 16, with that match also live on Sky. Kick-off 12pm.
