Dundee United 0-0 Aberdeen: Visitors frustrated despite dominance

Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes refused to blame a contentious penalty decision after his side failed to break down a stubborn Dundee United.

The ball appeared to strike Lawrence Shankland's hand in the penalty area during the goalless Scottish Premiership draw, but play went on.

Aberdeen failed to take the opportunity to overtake Hibernian in the league table, despite dominating the game.

"We should be turning that performance into three points", he said.

"Performance was good, motivation was good, there's not a lot I could be critical about. But with the number of shots and set-plays we had we should be working the keeper a lot more."

• Reaction & as it happened

It was a bit of a mystery as to how United managed to keep this one goalless - but if they had one man to thank it was Benjamin Siegrist.

The goalkeeper was solid from the beginning, palming away a couple of long-range efforts from Ryan Hedges and Jonny Hayes and getting a strong hand to a golden chance for Scott Wright.

Tommie Hoban also headed wide from a corner and Hayes struck a low shot wide from the left side after finding space as the opportunities mounted for the away side - with no reward.

Aberdeen were frustrated further after seeing a penalty appeal dismissed. Ross McCrorie's header from a corner appeared to clearly strike Shankland's arm, but referee Alan Muir waved play on.

The second half fell into the same pattern - it was backs against the wall stuff for Micky Mellon's side.

It prompted a change in personnel, with Marc McNulty coming on for his debut just before the hour - the hope that a partnership between him and Shankland could be the catalyst to pose more of a threat.

Aberdeen continued to be the dominant side though, and Niall McGinn's first contribution after coming on was to curl a free-kick over the wall from 20 yards and force yet another great save from Siegrist.

Time was running out for Derek McInnes' team, and despite all that superiority, the best chance of the second half fell to United substitute Logan Chalmers.

He turned Hayes inside out on the edge of the area to set up a one-on-one with Joe Lewis - but the Aberdeen goalkeeper pulled off a stunning save to prevent a smash and grab job from the home side.

Aberdeen kept knocking on the door in the closing minutes, with 18 shots in total by the end, but the elusive goal would not come.

Man of the match - Benjamin Siegrist

Despite some strong performances from Aberdeen - Ryan Hedges in particular - Siegrist was the difference between the sides, pulling off some wonderful saves throughout

What did we learn?

United enjoyed some high-energy performances at the start of the season, promising to be a formidable force despite just being promoted.

But this passive performance was not encouraging - they were barely able to get on to the ball in the opposing half, with Mellon's side resorting to punting the ball forward far too often.

Aberdeen will be pleased with the dominant nature of their performance, but there were concerns for them, too.

The absence of Sam Cosgrove was glaring, so McInnes will be hopeful his star striker can return for the Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic next month.

What they said

Dundee United manager Micky Mellon: "We know coming up against Aberdeen, you've got to show the qualities we showed - the resilience, the battling, defending your 18-yard box.

"We want to get better with the football, that's something we want to do as we move forward. But it's a clean sheet against a good Aberdeen side. I couldn't fault the players."

Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes: "It looks like it's hit Lawrence Shankland's hand before the keeper gets there. Whether it's going in or not, it's a handball.

"That decision didn't go our way, but we still had plenty of time to go and do more, and that's why we're disappointed. It was just that last part we needed somebody to step up and take ownership."

What's next?

Aberdeen play one of their games in hand on Tuesday as they host Hamilton Academical (19:00 BST)while Dundee United are in action at St Johnstone next Saturday (15:00).