Livingston 0-0 Aberdeen: Points shared in match of few chances
- Published
Bojan Miovski felt he was due a penalty for this pull from Ayo Obileye
Livingston and Aberdeen shared the points after a drab goalless Scottish Premiership opener in West Lothian.
Kelle Roos was called into action once with 15 minutes left as Ayo Obileye's downwards header searched for the corner.
There was a first-half Aberdeen penalty appeal from Bojan Miovski after a shirt tug by Obileye, but referee John Beaton was unmoved.
Over 4,000 away supporters travelled down to Tony Macaroni Arena, but their team did not produce a single shot on target.
Late on, substitute Bruce Anderson was taken off on a stretcher following a nasty collision with Aberdeen debutant Slobodan Rubezic.
There's always talk that teams are raring to go and eager to get the league campaign back underway. However, neither side looked as though they'd returned from their summer holidays in a poor encounter which lacked any sort of quality.
Passes could not be strung together, the ball could barely be kept on the deck. Very little football was played in a rather robust contest.
Rubezic was first to enter the book for a nasty nick on Kurtis Guthrie. Later, Barry Robson joined him after his frustrations were evidently growing on the touchline.
Following the departure of his namesake, Nicky Devlin, Michael Devlin donned the captain's armband in West Lothian and he came closest to taking control of the game when he rifled a shot from 30 yards out, deep into a lengthy stoppage time, but his effort flew wide.
Player of the match - Duk
Believe me, this wasn't an easy choice, and not for the right reasons. But, when you look at the stats, Duk had the most shots - albeit not on target - and the most touches in the opposition box.
Imagination not on show - analysis
Hopefully both sides have got this out of their system early on in the season and the game is never referred to again.
There was no oomph from an Aberdeen side who have generated high-expectations this season for the way they ended the last campaign and the summer signings they had made. Big changes will need to be made from that showing if there is to be any success domestically or joy on the continent this year.
Livingston frustrated their visitors, and that's always to be expected at the Tony Macaroni. But David Martindale's side offered little signs of hope of their own.
What they said
Livingston manager David Martindale: "It was a physical game of football played at a decent intensity. It was a typical game of Scottish football.
"I'm really proud of the players. I have a lot of respect for Aberdeen and for Barry, since he took over they've been brilliant so we had to compete and match -up and I think we done that incredibly well.
Aberdeen manager Barry Robson: "When Duk and Bojan [Miovski] get their shooting boots on, we'll be a lot stronger.
"Credit to Livingston, they slowed it down. Every time we broke on a transition they fouled us, which is fair enough, but it was hard for us to get into any sort or rhythm."
What's next?
Livingston face a trip to Ibrox next Saturday, 12 August for a 15:00 BST kick-off, while Aberdeen host Celtic the day after at midday.