Aberdeen edge Livingston to jump into top six

Aberdeen bounced back from their heavy defeat against Celtic to beat Livingston in a tight Scottish Premiership encounter.

Livingston huffed and puffed in the second half, but Jay Gorter was never really troubled in the Aberdeen goal.

Aberdeen rise to sixth in the league, moving above Livingston on goals scored.

The game was a relatively tight affair for the first half hour, but Aberdeen gradually pushed Livingston back, and were rewarded for a spell of sustained pressure.

Ryan Duncan swung in a testing cross from the right onto the head of Matty Pollock, who managed to find the unmarked Miovski, and Aberdeen’s main man fired into the roof of the net from seven yards out.

Livingston improved after the break, and thought they’d drawn level when Joel Nouble curled beyond Gorter, but his shot was cleared off the line.

That close call seemed to jolt the hosts back into life; Ross McCrorie and Ylber Ramadani both saw shots go wide from the edge of the box.

From there, interim boss Barry Robson’s side saw out the game with relative ease, as Livingston failed to create any notable opportunities.

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Barry Robson said before kick-off that the most important thing for his side was to be tight and structured at the back, and he got his wish in a battling performance.

Livingston managed just one shot on target in the 90 minutes, but Angus MacDonald scrambled back to expertly clear Nouble’s shot off the line. That moment summed up the home performance – far from perfect, but one full of grit and determination.

Aberdeen have leaked goals all season – it has been the primary cause behind their struggles this season. Fifty one goals against in 27 league games is the worst defensive record in the Scottish Premiership, but today’s clean sheet signalled a move in the right direction.

What the managers said

Aberdeen caretaker manager Barry Robson: “I think we looked pretty comfortable in the end.

“Livingston tried to slow everything down and take the rhythm out of the game, so we had to stick with it, win second balls and we showed a calmness, a real aggression and a good structure.”

Livingston manager David Martindale: “I think it should be a 0-0 to be honest. There was nothing really that either keeper had to do, but unfortunately we come out as the losing team.

“It’s a game where we weren’t quite at it, but we’ve given a terrible goal away. If we think we’re going to turn up and win games of football because of previous form then we’ve got another thing coming. We’ve worked too hard to throw it away now.”

What’s next?

Aberdeen are away to bottom club Dundee United on 4 March (18:00 GMT), while Livingston host Hibernian earlier in the day (15:00).