The signing of Dimitar Mitov has brought a calmness and confidence to Aberdeen’s defence that has been key to the winning start to the season.
Mitov arrived from St Johnstone on a three-year deal and has brought real quality into that goalkeeping role.
Mitov takes charge of the penalty box and bosses that area with a commanding presence.
The Dons keeper is very confident and strong in dealing with crosses into the box.
Defenders take real confidence knowing they have a keeper with those qualities behind them.
Mitov comes out for crosses and, even if under pressure, copes with it well as he rises high above everyone in the box.
He never looks intimidated when under pressure from an opposition player.
The Bulgarian international’s distribution is also good, whether that be throwing or volleying the ball to start attacks quickly.
The Aberdeen keeper is always looking to rapidly initiate attacks which is a feature of manager Jimmy Thelin’s style of football.
When they are defending, whether that is the keeper or defenders, they get the ball forward quickly to try to take advantage if the opposition is not organised.
Mitov showed class with penalty save
Mitov further underlined his quality with a vital penalty save against Ross County.
With the game level at 0-0 the Staggies were awarded a spot kick following a VAR review for handball by Nicky Devlin.
That winning start to the season looked in jeopardy but Mitov delivered a superb save to tip Ronan Hale’s penalty wide.
There are not many keepers who will be able to spread themselves so well and anticipate which way the penalty would go like Mitov did.
Then get a good, strong hand to it.
Mitov’s penalty save gave Aberdeen the platform to go on and score a dramatic late winner to make it nine victories from nine matches.
Nisbet can fill Bojan Miovski void
Loan striker Kevin Nisbet netted the vital winner with a great finish.
Nisbet displayed a strong understanding of the movement that needs to be made to make it as difficult as possible for defenders.
He lost the defender and found a little pocket of space by checking back away from his marker.
However you also need the calmness to give the shot enough pace whilst also being accurate, and Nisbet did that.
Nisbet is a proven goal scorer and I don’t think Aberdeen are taking too many chances by taking him on a season long loan from Millwall.
His finish was the difference between one point and three points.
Bojan Miovski’s recent transfer to Spanish La Liga club Girona for a club record fee left a big hole.
However Nisbet looks like he will fill it once he gets up to full speed.
Aberdeen battle until the very end
What impressed me about Aberdeen was the determination to keep going right to the very end in the bid to get that winner in Dingwall.
They retained that positive mentality as a team by not settling for a draw.
Aberdeen will have received a huge boost from jumping top of the Premiership table on Saturday with the win against Ross County.
They were only at the top for less than 24 hours as Celtic returned to the summit on goal difference after their 3-0 win against Rangers.
A new manager has come in to Aberdeen with fresh opinions and style of play.
New players have also arrived yet the season couldn’t have started any better.
The momentum is with Aberdeen and going top on Saturday will be a huge confidence boost for the players and manager.
Aberdeen have 12 points from 12, the same as Celtic, which is an incredible start to the season under Thelin.
On Saturday night the Dons were top of the table looking down on everyone.
After four games Aberdeen have already opened up an 11 point advantage on both Hearts and Kilmarnock.
Hearts finished third in the Premiership last season and Kilmarnock fourth.
The momentum is with Aberdeen and improvements are still to come.
Early days, but the signs are this could be season to remember for Aberdeen.
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