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Aberdeen got off the mark in the Conference League following a disciplined display against AEK Larnaca but were left to rue a stoppage-time miss in Cyprus.
The goalless draw earned Jimmy Thelin’s side their first point of the tournament following defeats by FCSB and AEK Athens, the latter a 6-0 thrashing on the road two weeks ago.
But they came close to a memorable result on the road when Nicolas Milanovic was presented with an excellent chance 30 seconds into stoppage time after being set up by good work from fellow substitute Topi Keskinen following a counter-attack.
The Finn’s cross bounced in front of summer signing Milanovic and the Australian winger swept his shot off target with home goalkeeper Zlatan Alomerovic out of position.
However, there was a bigger let-off for Aberdeen with the last action of the match when, with Dimitar Mitov stranded, Larnaca substitute Karol Angielski headed wide.
Thelin was satisfied to secure a point which lifted his side off the foot of the table and instilled belief in his side that they can yet make a success of what had been a difficult campaign up to this point.
Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin was delighted with his players' performance in Cyprus
Nicolas Milanovic passed up a glorious opportunity to give the visitors the lead late on
Mats Knoester was part of a Dons rearguard which limited their hosts to few chances
Reflecting on the late drama, the Swede said: ‘It was two big chances — we had one and they had one at the end.
‘We are going in the right direction. We need to keep working.
‘It’s important to be in European competition every year and we should never give up. Now it’s about recovery and doing everything we can to get the players ready for the next game.’
Thelin handed 20-year-old Dylan Lobban a second straight start for the club at right-back and the Aberdonian drew praise from his manager for a mature display.
‘[Dylan Lobban] has worked so hard,’ said Thelin. ‘Sometimes when you get an opportunity, you have to take it and he was one of the best players on the pitch.’
The travelling Dons fans might have feared they were in for a similar evening to their Greek experience when their team failed to deal with an early corner and Jimmy Suarez fired well over.
But Thelin’s side settled down and Jack Milne had chances at the other end. The defender was too slow to react to a ball across the face of goal and then headed off target from Jesper Karlsson’s corner.
Dons full-back Nicky Devlin was relieved to see his sliced clearance loop off target with Mitov scrambling and the goalkeeper soon made a good stop low to his left to deny Dorde Ivanovic.
Aberdeen are off the mark in this season's UEFA Conference League after earning a point
Larnaca came close just before the break when captain Hrvoje Milicevic stepped out from the back and fired a 35-yard strike that bounced off the foot of the post.
Pere Pons headed not far over for the hosts after the interval but Aberdeen generally looked organised when they defended and Devlin produced an excellent block to deny Ivanovic.
The Dons failed to make the most of some decent openings with Keskinen and Karlsson in particular wasteful with their final ball, although the latter threatened with a deflected effort.
Mitov beat away a swerving long-range strike from Milicevic as the Dons sat back and held on for a point before both teams missed their late chances to snatch victory.
AEK LARNACA (4-3-3): Alomerovic; Miramon, Ekpolo (Ioannou 93), Milicevic, Gnali; Pons (Gonzalez 72), Ledes, Suarez; Rubio (Naoum 67), Bajic (Angielski 72), Ivanovic.
ABERDEEN (5-4-1): Mitov; Lobban, Devlin, Milne, Knoester, Jensen (Gyamfi 76); Armstrong (Keskinen 63), Polvara (Shinnie 84), Aouchiche, Karlsson (Milanovic 76); Lazetic (Nisbet 63).
Referee: Dalibor Cerny (Cze). Attendance: N/A.
