Al-Etesalat 1 - 5 Aberdeen

Aberdeen faced Al Etesalat this evening in Egypt. The opposition had finished third in group B and started strongly against the Dons. Soutar was called into action in the 5th when he made a fine save after the defence were caught napping. The warning was not heeded and Al Etesalat took the lead a minute later when Osama latched on to a pass that had been played through the back line. He looked composed as he lobbed the ball over the keeper to make it 1-0.

Mackie collected a yellow card in the 16th minute then the Dons settled into their game and levelled after 20 minutes. Foster played a neat pass to Smith and he cut inside and drilled the ball past the keeper. A minute later Aberdeen went ahead after some good play from Mackie. He held the ball up then held off a couple of defenders before slipping the ball to Clark. The midfielder fired his shot low into the net to make it 2-1. Mackie should have made it three in the 27th minute when a Nicholson free kick found him in space.

Unfortunately he blazed the effort over before Clark and Miller combined well forcing  the keeper into a decent save from Clark's shot. Aberdeen went 3-1 ahead in the 40th minute when Smith showed good composure on the ball. He could have played Mackie in but opted for a neat reverse pass to Miller. The striker rounded the keeper and rolled the ball into the net. Three minutes later Miller added a fourth when Mackie set him up before firing into the left hand side of the net to give the Dons a comfortable 4-1 advantage at the break.

Calderwood made four changes at the interval with Touzani, Diamond, D. Smith and Maguire replacing Severin, Mair, Hart and Nicholson. Aberdeen had a great chance to make it five ten minutes into the second half. Miller charged down the keeper's clearance and the ball broke to Mackie. Unfortunately he scuffed his shot and the ball went wide, A minute later Al Etesalat had a chance to get back into the game when Touzani was adjudged to have fouled Hosam in the box. Brazilian, Ferrera stepped up but sent his spot kick wide of the target. The Egyptian rued the miss four minutes later when Lee Miller completed his hat trick with a well-placed header from a pin point free kick from Smith.

Another four substitutions disrupted the flow of the game as Considine, Brewster, Kelly and Lovell replaced Foster, Miller, Smith and Soutar. Maguire had a chance to make it six in the 86th minute but he fired Lovell's cross into the side netting. After losing their opening two matches the Dons ended the tour on a high with seven goals in two games.