Aberdeen Thrash Livingston In Chaotic Eight Goal Premiership Clash

The Pittodrie faithful braved the driving rain and biting wind on January 24, 2026, and were rewarded with a spectacle for the ages as Aberdeen stormed to a 6-2 victory over Livingston in the William Hill Premiership. The Dons not only snapped a frustrating six-game league winless streak, but they did it in style, capitalizing on chaos and controversy in a match that had just about everything: goals galore, VAR drama, red cards, and a manager’s public reckoning.

For Aberdeen, this was more than just three points. After a string of disappointing league results, Peter Leven’s men needed a statement—and boy, did they deliver. The opening salvo came early, with Kenan Bilalovic breaking a 399-minute league scoring drought. Lyall Cameron’s corner was deftly flicked on by Mats Knoester, and Bilalovic bundled the ball home at the back post in the ninth minute. The relief was palpable, and the Pittodrie crowd, nearly 18,000 strong, roared their approval.

But Livingston, despite their basement-dweller status and a 23-game winless run, weren’t about to roll over. They struck back with a vengeance. In the 28th minute, Mahamadou Susoho pounced on a deflected ball and beat Aberdeen keeper Dimitar Mitov from close range. VAR took a long look, but the goal stood. Just four minutes later, Robbie Muirhead reacted quickest after Mitov’s parry, knocking in the rebound to give the Lions a shock 2-1 lead. Suddenly, home fans were stunned into silence, and the specter of another missed opportunity loomed large.

Then came the turning point. First, Kevin Nisbet thought he had equalized in the 16th minute, only for VAR to rule out his effort for a marginal offside. But the striker wasn’t to be denied. Seven minutes of first-half stoppage time offered Aberdeen a lifeline, and they seized it with both hands. Stuart Armstrong’s cross found debutant Mitchel Frame, whose low delivery was met by Nisbet for the equalizer deep into added time. Moments later, Topi Keskinen drove in a low cross and Nisbet was there again, sliding home what appeared to be a carbon-copy finish. The Dons went into halftime with a 3-2 lead, the mood in the stands transformed from anxiety to jubilation.

Livingston manager David Martindale was visibly agitated, and that agitation boiled over after the break. In the 63rd minute, Martindale was sent off for his animated protests at referee Ross Hardie, leaving Marvin Bartley to marshal the touchline. Martindale later admitted, “I thought the referee never had control of the game, the full game. But that’s not the reason we lost the game. That’s on me… I’ve gotta take accountability for that.” His candor was striking, as was his frustration with VAR. On the disallowed Nisbet goal, he said, “I do not understand for the life of me four years later… how the lines are inconclusive. Camera angles are not great, and the referee is having to look at a monitor to make a judgment call on whether it’s offside or not.”

The temperature on the pitch didn’t cool. Just five minutes after Martindale’s dismissal, a confrontation between Aberdeen’s Jack Milne and Livingston substitute Jeremy Bokila turned physical. Both players saw red, and the match was reduced to ten-a-side. Graeme Shinnie, Aberdeen’s captain, was also booked amid the melee, ripping off his armband in visible frustration.

With the tension at fever pitch, Aberdeen took full advantage. Substitute Sivert Nilsen rose highest to head home Frame’s corner in the 75th minute, making it 4-2 and effectively ending Livingston’s resistance. The Dons were rampant, and the home crowd sensed blood in the water.

Enter Topi Keskinen. The Finnish winger, already a menace down the left, delivered a late brace to put the result beyond doubt. In the 85th minute, he cut inside and unleashed a shot from the edge of the box that took a slight deflection off Babacar Fati before beating Livingston keeper Jerome Prior. Then, deep into second-half injury time, Keskinen robbed Joshua Brenet, surged past two defenders, slipped by Ryan McGowan, and slotted home his second—and Aberdeen’s sixth—goal of the night. The Pittodrie faithful were in raptures as Keskinen’s name echoed around the stadium.

Amid the carnage, there were debuts and absences of note. Toyosi Olusanya, Aberdeen’s new signing, made his first appearance off the bench, replacing Nisbet to a standing ovation. Liam Morrison, another new face, didn’t make the squad, while Dante Polvara, in the last six months of his contract, was also unavailable. For Livingston, Scott Arfield and Cristian Montano missed out, with Babacar Fati making the bench.

For all the drama, the result leaves Livingston’s situation increasingly dire. Still rooted to the bottom of the Premiership with just 11 points from 23 games, the Lions are now three points adrift of Kilmarnock in 11th and eight behind St Mirren, who have played a game fewer. Martindale, reflecting on the defeat, didn’t mince words: “Defensively, we’re all over the place… The structure, the shape, me getting sent off, never helped the group. So I’ve gotta take accountability for that.”

Aberdeen, meanwhile, can finally look up rather than down. The win, their first league triumph in over a month, keeps them in the hunt for a top-six finish and builds on the momentum from their recent Scottish Cup victory over Raith Rovers. Leven’s men are rediscovering their attacking verve, with set pieces—long a weakness—now a source of strength. As one observer put it, “A weakness was suddenly becoming a strength under Leven.”

Yet, the mood after the match was as much about the officiating as the football. Martindale’s critique of Ross Hardie was pointed, but he reserved his harshest self-assessment for himself: “It always comes back to me, and I’m all right with that. I’m OK with that. It was really poor at best… I think the buck stops with me.”

With Pittodrie still buzzing from the eight-goal thriller, Aberdeen fans will savor a night when their team played with swagger and ruthlessness. For Livingston, the search for answers—and a long-awaited win—goes on. With time running out and the relegation trapdoor looming, the Lions face a daunting fight for survival. But if this chaotic, rain-soaked night proved anything, it’s that in football, anything can happen—and usually does.