Aberdeen picked up a draw in their Europa League second qualifying round first leg. Georgian side Chikhura Sachkhere tested the Dons throughout, with the match eventually ending 1-1.
A questionable penalty was tucked away by Giorgi Koripadze, putting the home side ahead. Sam Cosgrove leveled the scoring to give Aberdeen the away goal advantage.
Cosgrove netted another penalty. (Photo by Scott Baxter/Getty Images)
Despite scoring in every competitive Aberdeen match so far, Cosgrove’s performance has split opinion.
Some Aberdeen fans have reacted to the striker’s performance.
Here comes the weekly episode of “Sam cosgrove scores a penalty that covers up his absolute abomination of a performance.”
— . (@SamCosBallonDor) July 25, 2019
Folk hating Sam Cosgrove like hes not the only ST capable for scoring actual goals for us
— Ronnie 🇵🇪 (@RonnieAllison8) July 25, 2019
Have to drop cosgrove next week
— Kyle (@kylestenhouse95) July 25, 2019
Similar problems to last season up front.
McInnes I told you so arrogance with regards to Cosgrove could come back to bite him on the arse.
Up front on his own he just looks lazy.
We need a fit and on form Wilson starting every game.— ConeHead (@Gcam80) July 25, 2019
Best striker in the league
— cameron (@C__n_B) July 25, 2019
Where’s all the ballon knots? 🤷🏻♂️ panic over
— Alex (@Fenners1903) July 25, 2019
Aberdeen striker Cosgrove needs to improve his overall play
Sure he’s scored in every competitive match but two of them were penalties. His overall performance in open play simply isn’t hitting the necessary standard.
He played pretty poorly. (Photo by Scott Baxter/Getty Images)
Up front himself, Cosgrove looks lost and isolated. He doesn’t help himself though. Rarely does the striker try to create opportunities for himself.
In Georgia he was pretty poor. He struggled with the physical battles and didn’t seem to win a header all night.
He doesn’t drop deep when no service is forthcoming. If those around him don’t have a good game Cosgrove might as well be sitting on the bench.
Doesn’t offer his teammates much support. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Will he be dropped in favour of something different? Probably not, the fact he has scored a couple of penalties probably keeps him in the team for now.
Next week though, Cosgrove really has to step his game up. Sooner or later, Derek McInnes will axe him from the squad with performances similar to his Georgia showing.