THIERRY Gathuessi and Colin Nish saw red as nine-man Hibs UEFA Cup hopes were dented as Aberdeen came from behind to clinch a 2-1 win at Pittodrie.
Mixu Paatelainen's players had gone into the match knowing a win would take them into third place in the SPL table after Euro rivals Motherwell and Dundee United drew in the lunchtime kick-off at Fir Park.
And they looked on course for victory when Northern Ireland star Dean Shiels fired them into an early second half lead with his tenth goal of the season.
But Dons substitute Darren Mackie equalised within 60 seconds of taking to the park before another moment of madness from Gathuessi earned Aberdeen a penalty. Gathuessi, who conceded a needless spot-kick at Tannadice on Sunday to deprive his side of two vital points, committed the exact same blunder pushing Lee Miller in the back when there was no threat, the former Hearts striker stepping up to convert from the spot.
Worse was to come for the French hot head who, having been booked for dissent, continued to talk back to Dougal who produced a second yellow.
And ten minutes from time Nish, who had only been on the pitch some nine minutes after replacing Steven Fletcher , was sent packing by referee Stuart Dougal. Only the official seemed aware of the striker's offence but there was no complaint from Nish as he headed for the tunnel.
Miller passed up a glorious chance to open the scoring for the Dons after only four minutes. Barry Nicholson picked out his team-mate all alone eight yards out with an inch-perfect cross but, instead of heading for goal, Miller nodded the ball across the area where he caught Chris Maguire by surprise, the Pittodrie youngster stabbing his effort wide.
ACROBAT: Steven Fletcher attempts an overhead kick. Picture: SNS
Hibs hit back with Ian Murray releasing Abdessalam Benjelloun who fired in an angled shot which Dons goalkeeper Jamie Langfield, diving low to his left, just managed to touch away.
Miller almost made amends for his earlier miss when he got his head to a cross from the overlapping Alan Maybury. But while he managed to beat Andy McNeil in the Hibs goal, Rob Jones had got back onto his line to boot the ball clear of danger.
The Dons continued to make most of the early running and Maguire let rip with a powerful drive which sizzled past McNeil's right-hand post. Then Richard Foster charged down Martin Canning's attempted clearance before delivering an inviting ball across the face of goal, forcing Murray to put it behind for a corner which, thankfully for Hibs, came to nothing.
Hibs hadn't posed too much of a threat by John Rankin went close with a left-footed shot from 25 yards which dipped inches over the bar and right on the stroke of half-time a corner from the former Inverness Caledonian Thistle midfielder caused confusion inside the Dons penalty area before the ball fell for Filipe Morais who dispatched a shot through a forest of legs which was deflected just wide of the target.
Aberdeen again held the upper-hand at the start of the second-half but they were rocked when Hibs took the lead in the 54th minute. Shiels intercepted Zander Diamond's pass and then danced through the Dons defence leaving Sot Severin, Diamond and Maybury trailing in his wake before slotting a low shot into the net for his tenth goal of the season.
SPOT ON: Lee Miller (right) celebrates his penalty goal with Richard Foster. Picture: SNS
For all Aberdeen's possession, McNeil hadn't been overworked but the Hibs goalkeeper was alert to block a snap shot from Nicholson after Miller had knocked a Maybury cross into his path. But Hibs immediately raced to the other end, Benji and Steven Fletcher combining to allow Rankin a run into the Dons penalty area only for Langfield to beat away his shot.
Aberdeen replaced Maguire with Darren Mackie in the 62nd minute and the substitute made an immediate impact, grabbing the equaliser within 60 seconds. Picking up Stuart Duff's pass, he drove at the Hibs defence only to be blocked by Canning whose clearance broke back into the striker's pass allowing him to roll the ball past the helpless McNeil.
Worse was to follow for Hibs when Gathuessi, the villain of the piece at Tannadice last Sunday, gave away another needless penalty, clearly pushing Miller in the back in the 69th minute when he was posing no danger, referee Stuart Dougal immediately pointing to the spot. Miller stepped up to hammer the ball into the net.
Gathuessi compounded his misdemeanour by getting himself sent off two minutes later, booked by Dougal for dissent after being penalised but then continuing to talk back to the official who then branded the red card, leaving the Hibs players raging at his stupidity.
Aberdeen: Langfield, Maybury, Considine, Diamond, Foster, Nicholson, Severin (Touzani 86), Duff (Walker 68), Young, Maguire (Mackie 62), Miller. Subs not used: Soutar, Lovell, Touzani, Bus, De Visscher.
Hibs: McNeil, Gathuessi, Canning, Jones, Murray, Beuzelin, Morais (Donaldson 78), Rankin, Shiels, Benjelloun, Fletcher (Nish 71). Subs not used: Ma-Kalambay, Zarabi, Stevenson, Chisholm, Campbell.
Referee: Stuart Dougal
The full article contains 873 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
