UC: Aberdeen 0-0 Dnipro

Group A

	Aberdeen 0 - 0 Dnipro
0		0

Two great saves denied Aberdeen victory as the opening leg of their UEFA Cup first round, first leg clash against Dnipro at Pittodrie finished 0-0.

Andrew Considine and Chris Clark saw shots beaten away by Vyacheslav Kernozenko early in either half of the clash.

The Ukrainian side had their moments, mostly from long range, and the Dons failed to capitalise on a period of sustained pressure after the interval.

Aberdeen boss Jimmy Calderwood sprung a surprise before the game by recalling goalkeeper Jamie Langfield.

Langfield lost the number one jersey to Derek Soutar following a row with manager Jimmy Calderwood on his stag night, but found himself back in favour after the Dons won just once in six games in his absence.

But it was his opposite number who proved the key man in Aberdeen's first appearance in Europe for five years, and he took just four minutes to produce a stunning stop.

Jamie Smith, who started up front, headed down Scott Severin's free-kick and Considine's close-range strike was brilliantly beaten away.

The visitors soon settled in possession and Sergey Samodin pulled a shot wide after a flick-on by Andriy Vorobey.

Their key man, Sergiy Nazarenko, was booked for a late tackle on McNamara before the Dons threatened from another set-piece.

Smith curled his left-wing corner beyond the far post but Zander Diamond could not direct his header back on target after a late run.

Considine saved the Dons with a brilliant penalty-box challenge on Samodin after Kostyantyn Kravchenko had lifted a superb ball over the top. And the visitors came close when Nazarenko twice curled inches over from 20 yards.

Both sides were looking to attack when they had the ball and Severin fed Barry Nicholson's forward run with a superb ball with the outside of his foot - but the midfielder was forced a fraction too wide and his shot was easily saved.

Langfield had his first serious test seconds after the restart when he pushed over Kravchenko's powerful long-range strike.

Moments later, Chris Clark came so close to breaking the deadlock with a brilliant piece of play that was matched by Kernozenko's save.

The left midfielder cut inside two defenders and curled a shot towards the far corner from 20 yards - but the Dnipro keeper pushed his effort on to the post.

Aberdeen had the impetus and Diamond won the ball from Severin's free-kick but could not direct his header towards goal.

Kravchenko was booked by Norwegian referee Espen Berntsen for initially refusing to move a yard off the pitch for treatment and, seconds after coming back on, he slowly limped off for substitute Dmytro L'opa.

The episode suggested the Ukrainians would have been happy with a goalless draw, and they were certainly sitting deeper than the opening half.

Aberdeen were looking to get the ball into the box at every opportunity and Derek Young had a shot deflected wide before Diamond headed over from the corner.

Clark had a great chance after Denys Andriyenko slipped in possession on the edge of his box but the wide man's shot flashed well wide with the aid of a deflection.

Striker Steve Lovell came on for Young and Smith moved wide right while Richard Foster replaced McNamara at left-back.

It was Dnipro sub Jaba Kankava who threatened next though after Nazarenko's cut-back, but Langfield dived low to his right to divert the measured shot past the post.

And a final push by Aberdeen failed to materialise as Dnipro kept the ball in their opponents' half for most of the final 15 minutes.

L'opa even threatened to sneak an away goal when he worked space in the box but he shot a yard wide, and Langfield saved from Sergey Kornilenko in injury-time.

But the Dons will still have their work cut out to make the group stages against a side that beat Hibernian 5-1 after a goalless draw at Easter Road two years ago.

Source: Soccernet.com