Barry Robson claimed Aberdeen were “by far the better team” after they lost 2-0 away to Hibernian.
The Dons found home goalkeeper David Marshall in inspired form as they spurned a host of chances – including a late penalty from Bojan Miovski – on a frustrating day at Easter Road.
A goal in each half from Dylan Vente and Will Fish proved enough to make it three wins on the spin for Hibs, who tightened their grip on fifth place in the cinch Premiership and closed the gap on St Mirren above them.
“That’s probably the best we’ve played since I’ve been in the job,” insisted Reds boss Robson.
“I know people will say ‘but you lost the game’ and all that – I get that – but if we’re going to come to Hibs away and have 24 shots and dominate the whole game, I think we’re doing something right.
“I think it tells a story that their goalkeeper was given man of the match. We were all there, we all saw it, we were by far the better team.
“We know that, everybody knows that. But we’ve not come away with the points and that’s the important thing.
“We can sit and talk about all the chances we created, the missed penalty and losing two sucker-punch goals but football’s about winning matches.”
Aberdeen remain 10th with just three wins from their 13 league matches so far, but Robson is confident their situation will improve.
“We’ve not got what we deserved out of a lot of games this season,” he said. “Obviously there have been games where we need to be better but we had 24 shots here.
“I’ve got to give the players credit for that but I’ve also got to remember that we need to win games.
“We understand we need to get points and catch up. We’ve still got a couple of games in hand as well. But if they give me that type of performance, we will win games.”
Hibs boss Nick Montgomery agreed Aberdeen were unfortunate not to take anything but he was keen to point out that his team endured a similar sense of frustration when losing 1-0 to the Dons in the Viaplay Cup semi-final last month.
“I’d agree, they played really well,” said Montgomery. “I wouldn’t say they were the better team but they’ll be disappointed they didn’t get anything out of the game.
“But on the reverse, if you remember the semi-final, we were by far the better team and we lost that game 1-0. Aberdeen were good today and it probably wasn’t our prettiest performance.
“We definitely have to thank David Marshall. He’s a top-class goalkeeper and I thought he was outstanding. The penalty save summed up his performance.”
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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