Aberdeen’s Europa League adventure was ended by Kazakh side Kairat Almaty following a 1-1 draw in the third qualifying round second-leg tie at Pittodrie.
Gerard Gohou opened the scoring for the visitors after 59 minutes and Kenny McLean levelled on the night.
But the Dons could not muster the second goal that would have seen them take the tie into extra-time and they went out 3-2 on aggregate.
Goalkeeper Danny Ward was equal to Gohou’s first-minute drive, and the on-loan Liverpool man was quickly off his line to deny Stanislav Lunin after a sharp counter-attack.
But the Dons quickly settled into the game, and had claims for a penalty turned down when Peter Pawlett was sent tumbling in the box after 11 minutes following David Goodwillie’s clever through-ball.
And Aberdeen’s forward momentum continued as Jonny Hayes found space on the edge of the area to flash a left-foot shot narrowly wide of the target, with Vladimir Plotnikov scrambling across his line to cover.
The home side carried on from where they had left off after the restart, with Goodwillie just delaying too long after an opportunity opened up in front of him, and Niall McGinn slicing a shot wide.
Aberdeen fell behind when they tried to play their way out of defence after a corner but Mikhail Bakaev broke up the move and saw his 20-yard shot parried well by Ward before Gohou stroked home from close range.
Serginho nearly doubled the lead when he crashed a shot off the bar with his first touch after coming off the bench, but within a minute the game was level on the night as McLean turned home McGinn’s cross at the back post.
But it was not enough to maintain what has been an excellent foray into Europe for Derek McInnes and his men, despite Paul Quinn’s last-gasp header forcing an excellent, full-stretch save from Plotnikov.
Source: BT Sport