from Riga

Adam Rooney’s first half hatrick handed Aberdeen an eight-nil aggregate score against a poor FK Daugava side in the Latvian capital, Riga.

After a bruising encounter at Pittodrie- which saw the visitors reduced to 9 men- Derek McInnes made two changes to the side. In came Ashton Taylor and Andrew Considine- replacing Russell Anderson who dropped to the bench and Peter Pawlett who hadn’t recovered from a poor challenge in the first leg.

Aberdeen lined up in a 4-4-1-1 formation with Langfield in goal, Logan at right back, Taylor and Reynolds in central defence with Considine at left back. The central midfielders were Flood and Jack with Robson on the right and Hayes on the left. Niall McGinn played in behind Rooney.

The opening stages were fairly even although Daugava did look more organised for this tie than the previous one.  They saw plenty of the ball early on and two long balls up the park led to chances for Knapsis and Savensas who both attempted shots which went over the bar. Gradually though The Dons took command and on 14 minutes a corner from Robson was played into a dangerous area of the box. A mad scramble then took place as players from both sides attempted to get a touch but unfortunately for Aberdeen it was a Riga player who hacked the ball clear.

4 minutes later, Adam Rooney set Niall McGinn up but he blasted over the bar. Ashton Taylor picked out Rooney with a long ball, the striker showed great awareness to chest the ball into the path of McGinn and his first time ball just went over.

Aberdeen though took the lead in the 21^st minute, a superb cross from the left by Jonny Hayes was flicked in by Adam Rooney over the keeper at the near post. It was no more than the Dons deserved at that stage.

Daugava keeper Krumins then tipped a Logan effort over the bar whilst at the other end Jamie Langfield had produced a good save to deny Knapsis who had broken free from the Aberdeen defence.

Dons players came in for some rough treatment in the first leg, and although much curtailed in this game, there were still one or two late tackles flying in, Jonny Hayes being on the receiving end of several in the first half as they tried to combat the pacey winger.

On 32 minutes, Aberdeen broke up a Daugava attack and when Shay Logan found Flood on the right, he played the ball in field to Robson who brilliantly spun away from two Riga players before playing a delightful ball down the left wing towards Ryan Jack but the move then petered out.

A few minutes later, Rooney cleverly let ball run for McGinn to run on to but his effort at goal was too high and flew over the bar. At the other end, Langfield made a good save from a header.

The second goal came on 40 minutes, more good play down the right by Logan and he sent the ball across goal where Rooney was waiting to prod the ball home after keeper Krumens completely missed it. That was the Irishman’s fourth goal in the Europa League campaign to date and number 5 didn’t take too long to come after that.

Ryan Jack did well to find Hayes who ran into the box, rounded the Riga defender then played a fantastic ball across the face of goal for Rooney to sweep into the net. A fantastic goal and one which saw Adam join the top 10 Dons scorers in European competition.

HT 0-3

The second half of the game was a rather drab affair with few chances for either side. The Dons had done their job and looked happy to settle for a 3-0 win and progression to the next round of qualifying without any further injuries. However that wasn’t to be the case and on 64 minutes, Jonny Hayes had to be replaced after being subjected to a poor challenge. He hobbled off to be replaced by Cammy Smith.

Aberdeen continued to dominate possession but there was not the same urgency and there was no need to close players down like they had done for most of the two legs. The Latvian’s did look slightly more composed on the ball than they did at Pittodrie and they tested Jamie Langfield on 77 minutes when they burst into the box and got past Mark Reynolds but Langfield got down well to push the ball behind for a corner.

Derek McInnes then made a couple of changes with Scott Wright and Nicky Low coming on for Barry Robson and Niall McGinn.

Nicky Low was harshly flagged offside when he went got beyond the last defender but as the ball dropped to him the linesman put up his flag. After that there were few other opportunities as The Dons settled for the scoreline which ensures they will play Netherlands side, FC Groningen in the 2^nd round of qualifying for this season’s Europa League.