Scottish Premiership
Ross CountyRoss County4AberdeenAberdeen1

Ross County 4-1 Aberdeen: John Hughes' side hammer visitors

By Andrew SouthwickBBC Scotland

Last updated on .From the section Scottish Premiership

Aberdeen suffered a "horrible afternoon" said manager Derek McInnes as they were hammered 4-1 by Ross County in Dingwall.

To make matters worse, Jonny Hayes, Ross McCrorie and Ash Taylor were all injured in the rout.

Ross County rose off the bottom of the Scottish Premiership with their first home league win since the opening day of the season.

"At both ends of the pitch we weren't good enough," said McInnes.

Oli Shaw and Charlie Lakin drove County into an early 2-0 lead before an Alex Iacovitti own goal on the stroke of half-time gave Aberdeen hope.

But as the visitors faltered in front of goal, Shaw scored again before Jermaine Hylton made it four.

"I'm as disappointed by the last 10 minutes as I was by the opening," McInnes told BBC Scotland. "We have two players leaving here on crutches, it's been a horrible afternoon for us."

It is the second win in six games under Hughes since he took charge last month, and moves them up to 10th in the table.

However for Aberdeen, it is now just one win in their past five games as they fall to fourth.

It is a result that will send shockwaves through the north-east. Within seconds of kick-off, they were behind amid a calamity in the Dons defence.

Andrew Considine's pass was loose, and Tommie Hoban fell over in the box while cutting out Lakin's pass to gift away possession. But, despite a flurry of red shirts, no-one could get close to Shaw, who in the confusion drove a shot low into the bottom left-hand corner.

Passes went astray and it got all too scrappy at times, but both sides were getting forward. Aberdeen threatened through Curtis Main and Sam Cosgrove, but just as they began to look more dangerous County stunned them with a second.

Lakin collected the ball in space on the left of the six-yard box and sneaked the ball into the bottom corner.

Every time Hughes' side marched forward they looked like scoring as Aberdeen's defence wobbled, and Regan Charles-Cook's cross was begging for a blue shirt to knock it in, while Lakin had a long shot that just deflected wide.

Yet Aberdeen looked like they too had a goal in them. Home goalkeeper Ross Laidlaw made point-blank saves twice from Scott Wright, Lewis Ferguson had a free-kick deflected over, and Hoban and Cosgrove both had strong penalty shouts.

But they did get a break when Hoban's header deflected off County defender Iacovitti and trundled over the line to pull one back before the break.

The story of Aberdeen's game was summed up in one attacking move. Wright made a great pass to Matty Kennedy on the right, whose ball across goal expertly found Cosgrove. But the striker, once so deadly in that position, let it slip through his legs.

But County were not only repelling what Aberdeen had, they found a second wind going forward. Shaw struck a shot from distance that just whistled the post, but he made no mistake when Ross Draper's header fell to him and he hit it first time past Joe Lewis to seal the three points.

Even then they were not done. The gloss was put on the result when Hylton raced on to a pass, Lewis' attempted clearance bounced off him, and he just had to knock it home to add a fourth.

Man of the match - Oli Shaw

Oli Shaw
Two fine finishes from Oli Shaw in the game, and he went close to making it a hat-trick

What did we learn?

It is now a second win under Hughes, just one short of their entire haul under Stuart Kettlewell this season. They both have come against Hibernian and Aberdeen - sides in the top four of the Premiership - suggesting perhaps their best stuff is reserved for the better sides in the division.

Aberdeen created plenty of chances, but the once-prolific Cosgrove is struggling to find his old form while Main cut a frustrated figure again.

In defence they simply fell apart, and an unhappy Aberdeen support will be asking questions of the result.

What did they say?

'Performance had everything' - Ross County manager John Hughes

Ross County manager John Hughes: "What they [the players] have given me since I've come in is they give me everything they've got. No matter who we play, win or lose, they'll know they've been in a game. I've got a committed bunch of boys. To get a reward like that, I'm really pleased for them.

"That victory is for the chairman and everyone at the club."

Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes: "The defending wasn't good enough. At both ends of the pitch we weren't good enough. We created numerous chances. At half-time it was about trying to pick up where we left off. But some of the chances we missed were not good enough."

Aberdeen performance 'Not good enough' - Derek McInnes

What's next?

Ross County travel to Ibrox next Saturday to take on league leaders Rangers (15:00), while Aberdeen are at home on the same day against Motherwell (15:00).

Line-ups

Ross County

Formation 4-3-3

  • 1Laidlaw
  • 23Naismith
  • 5MorrisBooked at 49mins
  • 16Iacovitti
  • 2Randall
  • 24Paton
  • 11Vigurs
  • 19Lakin
  • 17Charles-CookBooked at 59minsSubstituted forDraperat 65'minutes
  • 8ShawBooked at 87minsSubstituted forMckayat 88'minutes
  • 14Hylton

Substitutes

  • 6Draper
  • 7Gardyne
  • 9Mckay
  • 15Watson
  • 18Kelly
  • 22Tillson
  • 28Andreu
  • 31Munro
  • 43Reid

Aberdeen

Formation 3-4-1-2

  • 1Lewis
  • 3Hoban
  • 14TaylorSubstituted forLoganat 31'minutes
  • 4Considine
  • 17HayesSubstituted forNgwenyaat 64'minutes
  • 40McCrorie
  • 19Ferguson
  • 33Kennedy
  • 25Wright
  • 9MainSubstituted forAndersonat 76'minutes
  • 16Cosgrove

Substitutes

  • 2Logan
  • 8Ojo
  • 10McGinn
  • 18McLennan
  • 21Anderson
  • 24Campbell
  • 26Virtanen
  • 37Ngwenya
  • 43Woods
Referee:
Bobby Madden

Match Stats

Home TeamRoss CountyAway TeamAberdeen
Possession
Home41%
Away59%
Shots
Home9
Away15
Shots on Target
Home5
Away5
Corners
Home6
Away6
Fouls
Home20
Away9

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Ross County 4, Aberdeen 1.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Ross County 4, Aberdeen 1.

  3. Goal!

    Goal! Ross County 4, Aberdeen 1. Jermaine Hylton (Ross County) right footed shot from outside the box to the centre of the goal following a fast break.

  4. Post update

    Attempt missed. Billy Mckay (Ross County) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses the top right corner. Assisted by Jermaine Hylton.

  5. Substitution

    Substitution, Ross County. Billy Mckay replaces Oli Shaw.

  6. Booking

    Oli Shaw (Ross County) is shown the yellow card.

  7. Post update

    Offside, Ross County. Iain Vigurs tries a through ball, but Oli Shaw is caught offside.

  8. Goal!

    Goal! Ross County 3, Aberdeen 1. Oli Shaw (Ross County) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Ross Draper with a headed pass following a corner.

  9. Post update

    Corner, Ross County. Conceded by Ross McCrorie.

  10. Substitution

    Substitution, Aberdeen. Bruce Anderson replaces Curtis Main.

  11. Post update

    Attempt missed. Oli Shaw (Ross County) right footed shot from a difficult angle and long range on the right is close, but misses the top right corner. Assisted by Harrison Paton.

  12. Post update

    Foul by Curtis Main (Aberdeen).

  13. Post update

    Callum Morris (Ross County) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  14. Post update

    Corner, Ross County. Conceded by Kieran Ngwenya.

  15. Post update

    Offside, Aberdeen. Andrew Considine tries a through ball, but Scott Wright is caught offside.

  16. Post update

    Hand ball by Iain Vigurs (Ross County).

  17. Post update

    Foul by Curtis Main (Aberdeen).

  18. Post update

    Connor Randall (Ross County) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  19. Post update

    Joe Lewis (Aberdeen) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  20. Post update

    Foul by Jermaine Hylton (Ross County).

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Player of the match

ShawOli Shaw

with an average of 7.81

Ross County

  1. Squad number8Player nameShaw
    Average rating

    7.81

  2. Squad number19Player nameLakin
    Average rating

    7.68

  3. Squad number6Player nameDraper
    Average rating

    7.47

  4. Squad number14Player nameHylton
    Average rating

    7.45

  5. Squad number9Player nameMckay
    Average rating

    7.42

  6. Squad number2Player nameRandall
    Average rating

    7.26

  7. Squad number11Player nameVigurs
    Average rating

    7.22

  8. Squad number17Player nameCharles-Cook
    Average rating

    7.19

  9. Squad number24Player namePaton
    Average rating

    7.18

  10. Squad number5Player nameMorris
    Average rating

    7.07

  11. Squad number23Player nameNaismith
    Average rating

    7.07

  12. Squad number1Player nameLaidlaw
    Average rating

    6.94

  13. Squad number16Player nameIacovitti
    Average rating

    6.94

Aberdeen

  1. Squad number25Player nameWright
    Average rating

    6.14

  2. Squad number40Player nameMcCrorie
    Average rating

    3.77

  3. Squad number4Player nameConsidine
    Average rating

    3.71

  4. Squad number37Player nameNgwenya
    Average rating

    3.68

  5. Squad number33Player nameKennedy
    Average rating

    3.64

  6. Squad number17Player nameHayes
    Average rating

    3.59

  7. Squad number19Player nameFerguson
    Average rating

    3.56

  8. Squad number1Player nameLewis
    Average rating

    3.42

  9. Squad number2Player nameLogan
    Average rating

    3.39

  10. Squad number3Player nameHoban
    Average rating

    3.37

  11. Squad number16Player nameCosgrove
    Average rating

    3.03

  12. Squad number14Player nameTaylor
    Average rating

    2.99

  13. Squad number9Player nameMain
    Average rating

    2.90

  14. Squad number21Player nameAnderson
    Average rating

    2.28

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