Aberdeen 2 PAOK 3: Dons surrender two-goal lead as VAR penalty blunder sparks sickening Conference League defeat

A tale of one ref and two penalty kicks left Aberdeen absolutely floored. 

Barry Robson and his players will be rightly furious at the performance of dud Austrian whistler Sebastian Gishamer here.

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With the Dons 2-1 up on PAOK thanks to Bojan Miovski and Dante Polvara’s second half finishes, Jack MacKenzie was clearly whipped down by Stefan Schwab. 

Amazingly, Gishamer and his VAR team didn’t bother reviewing it. 

Then they left Aberdeen stunned as six minutes into injury time – and the game levelled thanks to Kiril Despodov and Vierinha’s goals – he awarded one to the Greeks in almost identical circumstances after a telly check. 

To add insult to injury, it was Schwab who stepped up to take it – sending the 1,500 away fans and their players wild while Robson’s slumped to the turf. 

It was a sickening and gut-wrenching conclusion for the SPFL side, who will harbour massive grievances towards the officials here. 

Robson reverted back to one striker, with Miovski preferred over Duk, allowing Polvara to come back into midfield as part of a central five. 

Defender Stefan Gartenmann’s wish of a wild north-east night was granted, as wind and rain whipped Pittodrie giving the Greeks a taste of conditions they’re definitely not familiar with in their seaside resort home. 

And within the first minute the PAOK defence was caught out with a ball over the top but unfortunately Miovski couldn’t take full control of it and burst through, instead allowing it bobble around before a defender mopped up. 

Surprisingly given the conditions and the physicality of Aberdeen’s back line, the Greeks often went long in an attempt to create some early chances.

But their best came in 11 minutes, and there was no doubt about the quality of this move. 

A routine ball inside to Ioannis Konstantelias didn’t look to present much danger, but the 20-year-old international showed incredible feet to spin and then waltz past four players. 

He pirouetted in out of the red shirts, past Connor Barron, Stefan Gartenmann and Richard Jensen before evading Graeme Shinnie then slipping a reverse-pass style shot past Kelle Roos only for it to come back off the post. 

Aberdeen got lucky by a few inches but such was the audacity of the move, even the most ardent Dons supporter would surely have given him credit. 

It was a quite remarkable passage of play, and served to remind Aberdeen of the level they’re competing at now. 

After starting off launching it long, the real PAOK started to emerge with balls zipped in to winger Andrija Zivkovic starting to cause problems, while Konstantelias started to shine, seeking the ball at every opportunity. 

Robson’s men were set up to soak the pressure and then break at the other end, but too often they lacked the quality of a proper final ball to hurt PAOK. 

And they nearly paid the price for giving it away high up the pitch just before half-time when the Greeks launched a counter on them, with the hugely impressive Konstantelias starting it then trying to provide the finish after a drag-back inside the box. 

But despite his deft chip on the angle looking good from the sidelines, Roos seemed always aware of what he’d try so got a hand up to claw clear. 

And he was also equal to the next effort, Stefan Schwab’s header from a Vierinha corner, which he saved on his line. 

Aberdeen hadn’t been exactly adventurous in the first half, with a set piece their most likely route to goal. 

And it nearly proved that way just after the break as Barron picked out Dante Polvara with a free kick but PAOK keeper Dominik Kotarski got down to block.

That was his first save of the night – but he could do nothing as Aberdeen took an incredible lead within 60 seconds. 

First MacKenzie got space on the left and whipped in a low cross, which looked likely to be cleared by Konstantinos Koulierakis but he missed it, leaving Miovski unmarked four yards out. 

The striker took a touch to steady himself before slotting home to send Pittodrie wild. 

The Pittodrie crowd were bouncing again on 57 minutes as, amazingly, the Dons doubled their lead. 

PAOK were high up the pitch chasing an equaliser as the Dons’ gameplan worked a treat. Having won possession deep in their own half, they sprung Barron forward before he teed up Miovski and then through to Polvara. 

The American had plenty still to do one-on-one with the keeper and with two defenders rushing back, but he kept his cool to flick a shot over a stunned Kotarski and home. 

Robson made three changes, replacing Miovski, Barron and Polvara with Duk, Jonny Hayes and Leighton Clarkson. 

But PAOK were far from dead and buried, though, and grabbed one back immediately through sub Despodov, who tapped in Konstantelias’ cutback after Richard Jensen’s slip let him through. 

Aberdeen should have had a spot kick with 12 minutes left when Schwab clipped MacKenzie inside the box but again the Austrian team of officials didn’t take any action. 

And that decision was massive as PAOK levelled with eight minutes left on the clock, thanks to a cruel deflection off Hayes. 

The Irishman will be furious at his poor header which gifted Vierinha the chance to shoot on the angle but was helpless as it struck him on the way past Roos. 

Jensen had a late chance to put Aberdeen ahead but the keeper’s leg denied him. 

Then the roof caved right in on the Dons with the decision to award the spot kick for Rubezic’s challenge on Despodov, which Schwab converted to leave the Dons utterly sickened.

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