What a night it was in Maribor. Aberdeen travelled to Slovenia after recording a 1-1 draw at home, and were knocked out in embarrassing circumstances after an absolute howler from goalkeeper Joe Lewis in the final minute. They managed to lose 1-0, but that doesn't tell the story of the game.
Firstly, the howler - because this is something that will be shown time and time again. And it should be, it's awful:
But like the commentator said, it was irrelevant. Aberdeen just needed a goal. For the entire game they just needed a goal.
And they had the ball in the back of the net. And it should have counted but for some awful refereeing. Like the goal that this game will be remembered by, Aberdeen's disallowed goal started with a backpass. A bad one. One that Adam Rooney ran on to. It was a clear goal scoring opportunity, and the Maribor keeper Handanovic reacts late and absolutely hacks him down. A clear foul. The play goes on, and Northern Ireland hero Niall McGinn tucks the ball home.
Goal not allowed, penalty to Aberdeen instead. What does Handanovic get? Bearing in mind that McGinn put the ball in the net, signifying that it's a goalscoring opportunity?
A measly yellow card.
What's worse, as you can tell from the final score - Aberdeen didn't score from the penalty. Handanovic saved it:
It's a tough way to go out.
