Aberdeen’s Europa League race is run.
There should be massive frustration after Adam Rooney’s first-half penalty miss, but also anger at the performance of Bulgarian referee Nikola Popov who saw fit to send substitute Jayden Stockley off for two innocuous challenges and produced a performance of rare incompetence.
On a night of frustration Aberdeen’s misery was complete when goalkeeper Joe Lewis took an air swipe at a Graeme Shinnie back pass after it took a freak bobble and could only watch in dismay as the ball rolled into the net.
Aberdeen’s ambition should have been rewarded midway through the first half when Adam Rooney reacted quickest to a poor back pass from Marko Suler but was fouled by goalkeeper Jasmin Handanovic.
Penalty and yellow card said Bulgarian referee Nicola Popov, despite Niall McGinn clipping the loose ball into the net.
The referee delayed the spot kick for an age. No-one but Rooney was taking the spot-kick, but Handanovic made amends by diving low to his right to make the save.
Stockley was sent on in the 50th minute but had been on the pitch for little more than eight minutes, and had already picked up a yellow card, when the match took a turn for the worse on the hour mark when the former English attacker was show a second yellow card and then red by the referee after an innocuous challenge on Suler ruled an elbow.
A crucial decision and wrong.
Referee Popov was having a shocker, not just for Shockley, the flurry of fouls on Aberdeen players driving McInnes to distraction.
Time was running out for the 10-man Dons and as they pushed forward, the gaps started to appear, but Tavares could not take advantage, dragging a close range shot wide as the Aberdeen defence started to wilt.
Little wonder. Every man in red had given his all, but no matter how McInnes rang the changes and his player pressed, the goal would not come.
Bad went to worse in added time when, from a Shinnie back pass, the otherwise outstanding Lewis made a hash of his clearance and the ball bobbled through his feet and rolled, so slowly, into an empty net.
A goal which almost beggared belief.
