Hibs 0 Aberdeen 4
A hugely disappointing 90 minutes ended in a 4-0 win for Aberdeen at Easter Road.
Leighton Clarkson’s stunning opening goal put Aberdeen ahead and thereafter, we could have no complaints as the visitors took full-control and secured a big win.
Dante Polvara added a second before the break and further strikes from Bojan Miovski and Fletcher Boyd gave the Dons their comprehensive victory.
Both teams went into this contest with the same XI that started their previous fixtures against Ross County and St Johnstone, respectively.
Paul Hanlon led the boys out as he made his 563rd appearance in a Hibs shirt and we welcomed back Jake Doyle-Hayes and Luke Amos from injury, with the pair taking their place amongst the substitutes.
Hibs started the match positively and moved the ball around well as we came close to breaking the Aberdeen defensive lines a couple of times in the opening minutes.
The first effort of note came in the seventh minute when Dylan Vente dragged a shot wide from distance and it was quickly followed by Emiliano Marcondes having an effort deflected wide by Jamie McGrath after a driving run from Martin Boyle.
Aberdeen’s rigid 4-4-2 formation was struggling to contain our movement as we carved the visitors open time and again in the opening stages.
First, a cross from Boyle almost caught out Kelle Roos at his near post only for the Dons’ keeper to gather at the second attempt on his line.
Then, we had a spate of efforts with Myziane Maolida twice having shots blocked inside the Dons' box before Emiliano’s shot on the angle was gathered by Roos and Nathan Moriah-Welsh fired just wide from distance.
Aberdeen were rarely seen as an attacking threat in the opening half-hour with a blocked Miovski shot, following good play from Junior Hoilett, all they had to show for their efforts.
They were soon back on the defensive as we pushed again, and Roos was called into action to make two quick-fire saves to ensure parity.
The Aberdeen stopper made a terrific instinctive save to palm away a powerful strike from Myziane and was then up quickly to deny Boyle from the rebound with another acrobatic stop.
Having weathered the storm, Aberdeen started to look better offensively from the half-hour mark with a good counterattack almost resulting in the opening goal as McGrath’s pass found Polvara running in behind and his shot on the turn was deflected into the side netting by Chris Cadden.
The deadlock was broken just moments later as Aberdeen scored against the run of play; Jack Mackenzie found Clarkson unmarked on the edge of our box and he produced a wonderful finish to curl the ball high into our net from 20 yards.
It would go from bad to worse on 39 minutes when the visitors doubled their lead. This time Aberdeen came down their right and from Hoilett’s cut back, Polvara produced another clinical finish that gave Jojo Wollacott no chance.
We needed half-time to reset and were fortunate not to conceded again before the interval as McGrath saw a shot deflected wide and Miovski should’ve scored with a back post header that he put over the crossbar.
There were no changes to personnel during the half-time break from either side as Aberdeen started on the front foot with Hoilett playing a one-two with McGrath before shooting wide with a rising effort in the opening minutes.
Hoilett’s movement was causing us problems and he was the architect of Aberdeen’s third as his cross from the left was dummied by Clarkson before being swept home by Miovski from ten yards.
We made a double change on the hour with Josh Campbell and Dylan Levitt introduced however Aberdeen continued to look the more likely to score next with Miovski shooting wide on the angle.
Hibs had opportunities to reduce arrears through Myziane, Joe Newell and Levitt however all were frustratingly off target.
Our wastefulness in the final third was again highlighted with 11 minutes remaining as Myziane was played clean through on goal only for Roos to stand tall and save with his legs.
In the final minute, substitute Adam Le Fondre almost pulled one back with a fine curling effort from the edge of the box only for Roos to preserve his cleansheet with a terrific fingertip save.
In time added on, Aberdeen grabbed a fourth as substitute Boyd tapped in from close range to score on his debut.