Aberdeen's quest to reach the Europa League group stage for the first time in 15 years was ended at the final hurdle as BK Hacken eased to a 3-1 victory in front of a sold-out Pittodrie.
The Dons, who went into the second leg all square at 2-2 from last week's trip to Gothenburg spurred numerous chances of their own throughout the clash with their Swedish counterparts showing impressive finishing to seal their spot in Europe's second tier competition, and leave Barry Robson's men settling for Europa Conference League football until Christmas.
Ibrahim Sadiq continued his impressive goalscoring form with a thunderous strike from the edge of the box to open the scoring on 14 minutes. And he added to his tally before the break to put the visitors in the ascendancy. Aberdeen had to respond and they did so when Bojan Miovski sent Peter Abrahamsson the wrong way from the penalty spot after a VAR review. Amor Layouni then further cemented Hacken's advantage after dispatching a spot-kick of their own. That would be enough to seal the visitors a 5-3 aggregate victory and send the 28 Hacken supporters, who'd made the trip over from Sweden home delighted.
Euro fate decided
Hacken will join Rangers in the Europa League group stage. The draw is at midday on Friday and they could play the likes of Liverpool, Ajax and Brighton.
The Red Army might be deflated after their Europa League dream was ended but they have still earned the right to have Skyscanner at the ready as they prepare to find out who they will meet in the Conference League group stage on Friday.
Aberdeen haven't made the group stage of Europe's second tier competition since the 2007/08 season when Jimmy Calderwood's men faced heavyweights such as Bayern Munich, Copenhagen and Atletico Madrid. And they had their sights on more of those special nights for the 2023/24 campaign but it wasn't to be on this occasion.
Sadiq leaves his mark
Hacken star man Sadiq is set to join AZ Alkmaar for around £3.5million in the aftermath of the match following an impressive campaign for the Allsvenskan outfit.
The 23-year-old caused the Aberdeen defence all sorts of both in the opening hour last week and he was the man to produce an excellent piece of quality to open the scoring. Sadiq added to his tally shortly before half-time with a low strike beyond Kelle Roos after Duk tried to play the ball out of a dangerous area.
Per Mathias Hogmo's side displayed during spells why they are the current Swedish champions although they weren't afraid to get involved in some time wasting, even in the first 45 minutes. But overall Sadiq orchestrated everything positive for his side.
He was influential again by winning Hacken a penalty on 78 minutes as his lightning pace caused Slobodan Rubezic to foul him inside the box. Layouni dispatched and it was game over.
High intensity clash
From the first kick, Aberdeen looked fired up for battle. Bojan Miovski headed wide within the first minute which showed exactly what their intent was. Graeme Shinnie also stung the palms of Peter Abrahamsson by the sixth minute. They made Hacken know they were in for a very uncomfortable evening.
Even when the visitors opened the scoring, the heads didn't go down from Robson's men with Duk almost immediately levelling proceedings. Aberdeen's tails were up shooting towards the boisterous Merkland Road end with numerous chances to equalise heading into the half hour mark.
That would continue thanks to their high press and intensity when transitioning into attack. Bojan Miovski's header skiffed the crossbar on 35 minutes as the hosts edged closer to an equaliser. The problem was as Aberdeen put bodies up the field, it left their midfield wide open as was seen when Sadiq grabbed his brace on 41 minutes.
Aberdeen had to ride a wave of pressure at the start of the second 45 but were rewarded with a penalty which was dispatched coolly by Miovski and the North Macedonia international spurred a gilt-edge chance to equalise on the hour mark as he was put one on one with the 'keeper.
The 90 minutes went like a game of pin-ball, back and forth from then on with Sadiq hitting the post at one end and Aberdeen continuing to look threatening at the other.
Robson's men fought until the very end but ultimately their efforts weren't enough.
Ruthless Hacken
In the first half, Aberdeen had 14 shots at goal compared to Hacken's six but one side were able to take their chances. They showed a clinical touch with the hosts cut open far too easily. Srdan Hrsic ballooned over the bar with an open goal at his mercy which should've made it 3-0 on 50 minutes.
Both teams had a further nine attempts at goal in the second half and it again showed who could make the most of them.
The Swede's were also pretty ruthless in their defending with several last ditch blocks and sliding challenges. Take nothing away they came to a packed Pittodrie and silenced the Red Army with three goals and can fly back to Gothenburg with all eyes on the Europa League.
Work to do for Robson
Robson has made 12 summer signings so far, with chairman Dave Cormack hinting at a further one or two before the transfer window slams shut on Friday evening.
Full-back Richard Jensen became the 250th player to play for the Dons as he was handed a debut. While Jamie McGrath, Shayden Morris and Jamie McGarry replaced Jonny Hayes, Jack MacKenzie, Angus MacDonald and Dante Polvara from the side that lined up against St Mirren on Sunday. Robson stuck with a tried and tested 5-3-2 formation which you can see potential in with two natural full back's in McGarry and Devlin, who were excellent yet again.
On the other hand, they desperately require a central midfield replacement for Ylber Ramadani, who joined Lecce earlier this summer. Fans in the Granite City will also be eager for Duk to discover the form that earned him the tag of one of the Scottish Premiership's top forwards. That's 11 games without a goal for the Cape Verde star. In contrast, his strike partner Miovski is in prolific form, netting in five consecutive games this season.
