Aberdeen 0 Rijeka 2 (agg 0-4): Ten-man Dons meekly exit Europe
The Dons manager had been confident the club could overturn a two goal deficit from the away leg for the first time since Mark McGhee's hat trick eliminated Ujpest Dosza back in 1984.About the only consolation was the aggregate defeat wasn't nearly as bad as McGhee suffered in the job back in 2009 when they lost 8-1 on aggregate to Sigma Olomouc but there wasn't many other positives to take from a disappointing night at Pittodrie.Too many Aberdeen players performed way below the standard they had previously set in the competition with only veteran defender Andrew Considine and teenager Lewis Ferguson really earning pass marks.If the 5-2 aggregate win against the same opponents four years ago was arguably the Dons most impressive European result in recent years then this was one to forget, especially for recent signing Funso Ojo who was sent off after a terrible first 20 minutes.Goals from Stjepan Loncar and Antonia Colak either side of that dismissal for two yellow cards ultimately meant Rijeka joined Real Sociedad, Maribor, Kairat Alamaty and Apollon Limassol as sides who have dumped the Dons out at the 3rd qualifying stage.McInnes started the tactical battle 24 hours before a ball was kicked by claiming Cosgrove was definitely ruled out with hamstring injury only for the Dons medical staff to induce a Lazarus like recovery for the striker.Not that Rijeka manager Igor Biscan was ever likely to take anything for granted after being on the bench for Liverpool when they produced the Miracle of Istanbul coming back from 3-0 down at half time to defeat AC Milan on penalties in the 2005 Champions League Final.That much was clear in the way he set up his team to defend against Aberdeen's inevitable early onslaught while making sure their impressive Ghanaian winger Maxwell Acosty was the reliable out ball whenever the home side surrendered possession.A situation that was all too frequent as Ojo especially was slow on the ball and indecisive when trying to use it, as well as being caught flat-footed when Stjepan Loncar nipped in to make an already difficult task neigh on impossible after just 10 minutes.The real surprise was that the normally reliable Niall McGinn was equally culpable before being hooked after just 35 frustrating minutes, although Ojo had already beaten him back to the dressing room after being sent off.McGinn's wayward corner had led to Rijeka's opener as the ball was worked to Acosty who sped half the length of the field, rolled a pass back to Zoran Kvrzic whose delightful chip was guided home by Loncar.Ojo had already been booked by then for clattering Acosty and to complete the most miserable of cameo appearances the former Scunthorpe United player picked up his second yellow and a red after losing possession and crunching into Luka Capan's ankle trying to retrieve it.Cosgrove's main contribution was to pick up a booking of his own midway through the half, his third of the competition, which means he will definitely, positively miss Aberdeen's next European game, whenever that might be.Any lingering hope it would be in the final qualifying round next Thursday was emphatically snuffed out when another poor McGinn set piece led to an almost identical second goal for Rijeka in 32 minutes with the only difference coming when Colak applied a headed finish this time.McGinn gave way for Dean Campbell before the interval and while Ryan Hedges did at least force Rijeka goalkeeper Andrej Prakalo into a fine diving save just before the interval that was as good as it got for the home side.The visitors were simply happy to play out time in a second half with their patient possession football, obviously making sure they didn't take too much out of themselves ahead of a trip to Belgium to face Gent in the Europa League qualifying round next week.There were a couple of half chances for Rijeka but the only real distraction for the Aberdeen supporters who stayed to the end coming from the flock of seagulls continuously circling low over the pitch. Vultures would have been more appropriate for their team's chances.