Sports
Aberdeen 6 – 2 Livingston
Kevin Nisbet and Topi Keskinen both scored twice as Aberdeen ended a run of six Scottish Premiership games without a victory with a 6-2 win over Livingston.
But it was referee Ross Hardie who was at the centre of the action as both sides finished with 10 men at Pittodrie.
Kenan Bilalovic had the Dons ahead early on but quickfire goals from Mahamadou Susoho and Robbie Muirhead turned the game on its head.
Nisbet struck twice in first-half stoppage time to put Aberdeen back in front before Livingston manager David Martindale was sent to the stand and was quickly followed by Aberdeen’s Jack Milne and Livi sub Jeremy Bokila after a shoving match overheated.
Sivert Heltne Nilsen came off the bench to bundle home a fourth Aberdeen goal and Keskinen fired in a fifth five minutes from time before capping the result with a sixth in added time.
The home side made four changes after their Scottish Cup win over Raith Rovers, desperate to halt a run of four straight defeats in the league, while Livi were looking to bounce back from conceding a late leveller in their midweek draw with St Mirren.
The home side could not have asked for a better start, Bilalovic bundling home at the back post in the ninth minute after Mats Knoester flicked on a Lyall Cameron corner kick.
The Dons thought they had gone 2-0 up when Nisbet peeled off his man to run on to Stuart Armstrong’s clever flick and tap home, but the goal was ruled out after a lengthy VAR offside check.
Instead, it was the visitors who would next find the net – although there perhaps should have been an offside given against Ryan McGowan in the first phase of play.
In the end, his flick deflected to former Don Connor McLennan, who in turn saw his shot fall into the path of Susoho to level in the 28th minute.
Three minutes later, McLennan’s back-post volley was pushed away by Dimitar Mitov, but only into the path of Muirhead, who turned home from close range.
In recent times Aberdeen would have crumbled, but they showed resilience to turn the game around again before half-time.
Nisbet’s first was a simple three-yard tap-in after an inch-perfect cross from left-back Mitchel Frame and his second was near-identical, Keskinen this time teeing up the Scotland striker.
Both sides battled through the opening 20 minutes of the second half before Martindale invoked the ire of Hardie, who sent the Livi boss to the stands for comments made on the touchline.
Just three minutes later, an off-the-ball shoving match between Milne and Bokila boiled over, leading to the pair having to be separated and both being red-carded.
Aberdeen responded the better of the two teams and Nilsen met an Armstrong corner to turn home the fourth just moments after coming off the bench with 15 minutes left.
Finnish winger Keskinen completed the rout with two similar goals, first cutting inside from the left flank to the edge of the area and firing past Jerome Prior from 20 yards and then running into the area before sitting the ‘keeper down and passing into the net.
