Ross County beaten in opening match of 2024 as Jamie McGrath nets a double for Aberdeen in Dingwall
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Ross County 0
Aberdeen 3 (McGrath x2, Miovski)
Aberdeen were rarely troubled as they kicked off the new year with three points against Ross County.
Both teams had gone into the contest looking to kickstart what has been disappointing league campaigns – and 2024 – with a valuable result, but it was the away side who came out on top in Dingwall.
A first-half double from Jamie McGrath was added to in the 80th minute by Bojan Miovski, who took his personal tally to 15 across all competitions this season.
A cagey start saw both teams trying to gain the upper hand tactically, with County's box midfield being put under plenty of pressure by the Dons' high press.
That made it difficult for the Staggies to consistently play in the Aberdeen half, and it would be the visitors who got the upper hand with the first goal.
Bojan Miovski recovered well after his shot was blocked by Jack Baldwin to send a cross into the middle, and in line with the back post Jamie McGrath was able to control the ball and leave Ross Laidlaw powerless to prevent it finding the bottom corner.
The same man would double the Dons' advantage on the hour mark, this time taking advantage of a piece of magic from Leighton Clarkson to weave past Ryan Leak and tee McGrath up for a tap in.
County's best chance of the first half fell for Simon Murray, who cut inside from the left channel to force Kelle Roos into a reaction save at his near post, but it was Aberdeen with the strong upper hand going into the break.
Aberdeen thought they had extended their lead even further shortly after the restart, only for the offside flag to go up after they had the ball in the net for a third time.
They also thought they had a claim for a penalty when back-to-back shots were blocked inside the County box, but VAR helped confirmed that no spot kick was necessary.
County struggled to land a punch on their opponents, even into the latter stages, with the Dons content to counter attack into space when the opportunity presented itself.
One such occasion led to their third goal. Miovski ended up in a foot race with Jack Baldwin, and got the better of the Staggies captain to squeeze a shot past Ross Laidlaw and seal the points for Aberdeen.
There was a further late blow for Ross County, who saw skipper Jack Baldwin sent off for clattering into Ester Sokler on the edge of his own box when the Dons forward would have been through on goal.
Ross County: Laidlaw, Purrington, Brown, Baldwin, Dhanda, Sims, Sheaf, Loturi, Murray, White, Leak.
Substitutes: Munro, Turner, Harmon, Henderson, Samuel, Brophy, Nightingale, Reid.
Aberdeen: Roos, Devlin, Mackenzie, Shinnie, Gartenmann, McGrath, Barron, Miovski, Clarkson, Polvara, Rubezic.
Substitutes: Doohan, Jensen, Duk, Hayes, Sokler, Morris, Duncan, MacDonald, Milne.
Referee: Matthew MacDermid
Attendance: 5791 (2126 away)
