Hibs celebrate scoring at AberdeenSNS

Hibs were clinical with their chances at Pittodrie

Charlotte Cohen
BBC Sport Scotland

Aberdeen have slipped out of the Scottish Premiership's top two as their winless run stretched to a sixth game with a 3-1 defeat by Hibernian at Pittodrie.

Topi Keskinen had given the hosts the lead early on when he found himself in acres of space and he fired beyond Jordan Smith into the bottom corner of the Hibs goal.

But the revived visitors - who have now won three of their last four games - levelled soon afterwards after a horror mistake from Slobodan Rubezic.

The Aberdeen defender tried to clear but completely missed the ball, allowing Martin Boyle to run into the box and square for Elie Youan to finish.

Keskinen continued to cause problems and hit a post with his strike from outside of the box.

But it was Hibs who would take the lead when Boyle cut the ball back to Nicky Cadden, who smashed his first time effort into the back of the Aberdeen net.

Jimmy Thelin's side started the second half brightly and forced Jordan Smith into two good saves in the opening stages. But again though it was Hibs who made the most of their opportunities.

Nectar Triantis robbed Sivert Nielsen of the ball in the Aberdeen half and laid it off to Boyle, who slipped in a composed finish to move Hibs further away from the bottom of the division.

Another tough day at office for Aberdeen

This defeat makes it six games without a win for Aberdeen and, despite a cracking start to the season which put them nine points in front of Rangers, Thelin's side have now slipped behind the Ibrox club having played a game more.

There were some poor errors at Pittodrie, presumably not helped by the testy conditions, but Thelin urged his side to be more compact before kick off - advice they did not heed.

Now they've got five days to get back on track before they travel to Rugby Park to face Kilmarnock on Boxing Day and they'll be desperate not to slip any further away from the top two.

Hibs continue Premiership climb

David Gray said before the game that the last time they faced Aberdeen felt like a "turning point" for his team.

Since that 3-3 draw last month, Hibs have beaten Motherwell 3-0, County 3-1 and now they've put three past second-placed Aberdeen.

They sit eighth in the Scottish Premiership, only one place behind Dundee, despite being rock bottom not so long ago.

The main thing for them at Pittodrie was their ability to capitalise on the opportunities they created.

The heads didn't go down after Aberdeen's opener, took advantage of a mistake to get back level, and continued to make the most of defensive frailties from the hosts.

Next up, it's a huge Edinburgh derby on Boxing Day against a struggling Hearts.

What they said

'We put it all together but still work to do' - Gray

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin: "We felt really well prepared, the fans were here with us and pushed us, but the result is not a good feeling.

"There's learning points like how we want to play and how we need to protect each other better.

"Football is a game of small margins and mistakes happen but the players need to protect each other better because the opponent today hurt us really, really bad."

Hibernian head coach David Gray: "I'm delighted, especially with the reaction to going a goal down.

"We probably got a bit of luck when Aberdeen hit the post but from that moment I thought we controlled the game, created numerous big chances and probably played the conditions slightly better.

"The way we played, the way we set out and worked - credit to the players."

Related topics