Last week I wrote that, too often, Aberdeen have been the perfect opponent for a side in desperate need of a victory and more evidence of this was presented to the court last weekend.
17 games and almost four months had elapsed since Kilmarnock last enjoyed any sort of win. They had lost 13 of those 17, scored just eight times and hadn’t managed more than one goal in a game since that last success at the start of October.
Step forward the Dons bearing gifts.
An insipid performance from the off at Rugby Park saw them lose 3-0. In truth, Neil McCann’s men could, and should, have scored many more against the 10-men.
It was the first time Killie had scored three goals in a single league match since last May, it was just their third win of the season in the Premiership and it was their biggest margin of victory in the competition since a 4-0 victory on Boxing Day 2024 when, yes, you guessed it, Aberdeen were in town.
The Dons have an 11 point cushion over 11th placed Kilmarnock as it stands, but when you look at the fixtures laid out in front of them this month, there is no guarantee they won’t get dragged into the mire with trips to Tannadice, Fir Park and Tynecastle all awaiting them.
The run begins with a visit from Celtic tonight, a team they haven’t got the better of in 90 minutes since 2018 and at Pittodrie in almost exactly a decade, with the champions unbeaten on their last 18 visits to the Granite City since Jonny Hayes and Simon Church scored in a 2-1 win to take them to within three points of the then leaders. Halcyon days for the Dons fans by comparison.
Almost a quarter of a century has passed since Celtic last failed to score at least once in Aberdeen, amid a barrage of snowballs in December 2001, during Martin O’Neill’s second season in charge. The Aberdeen keeper that night, and the last one to keep a clean sheet against the Glasgow side at Pittodrie, was Peter Kjaer. He celebrated his 60th birthday last year.
After Celtic comes their now season-defining Scottish Cup tie at home to red-hot Motherwell who have conceded as many goals in their last 14 games as Aberdeen did in 90 minutes at Rugby Park.
If their grip on the trophy is loosened completely on Saturday night, all that remains a dark chasm of what 2025/26 might have been.
