Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin was delighted to see summer signing Kevin Nisbet open his account for the club so early into his Dons career.
The former Hibernian hitman moved to Pittodrie on loan towards the end of the transfer window, making his Aberdeen debut as a substitute against Kilmarnock last weekend and scoring a dramatic 98th-minute winner in the 1-0 victory against Ross County.
That was only possible after another summer arrival, Dimitar Mitov, had saved a penalty from Ronan Hale to keep the game scoreless in the second half, and Thelin was full of praise for both of his match-winners.
“Kevin was in the right place at the right time inside the box, and it was also a good cross from Shayden (Morris), but he had to be there and he was,” Thelin said.
“We have to be happy and it is good for him to get a goal so soon after joining the club.
“He has pushed in training and he took a lot of defensive responsibility too while being vocal on the pitch, so I’m very happy with that.
“There was a point in the game where Ross County had momentum and had a lot of good situations around our box. Then they got the penalty and that could have been a game-changer, but after that we turned things around again and used that spirit.
“It was so quick and it was an amazing save from Dimitar. It was a good penalty but it was also a good save.”
Ross County boss Don Cowie had no complaints about the impact of VAR in what was a dramatic match overall.
Each side had a goal disallowed for offside, while the spot-kick was only awarded by video assistant referee Kevin Clancy after Nicky Devlin had blocked a shot by George Harmon with his hand.
“I have seen our disallowed goal back but at the time I didn’t get too excited because I thought Eamonn (Brophy) may have strayed offside,” Cowie said.
“I didn’t realise in the moment how close it was but that’s what VAR is there for. It goes for us with the penalty too, we just didn’t manage to take advantage of it.
“I’ve seen it back and it’s a fantastic save. Ronan is a really clean striker of the ball and he has hit a decent penalty.
“It’s a fantastic save. On another day he scores it, but it’s just part of football.”
