Archibald frustrated by defeat

Goalkeeper Paul Gallacher - who was in for the sick Scott Fox - pushed the ball wide after a clearly offside David Goodwillie had ducked under Cammy Smith's ball into the box, which bounced over his head towards the top corner.

Aberdeen won a penalty from the subsequent set-piece delivery after a Mark Reynolds header had hit Abdul Osman's hand. The midfielder was booked for protesting but Archibald accepted Willie Collum's decision was right.

However, he was less sure about the prior interpretation of the offside laws.

"Gall thought he was offside," Archibald said. "He was offside obviously. I know the rule is he has got to make a movement towards the ball but at the very last minute Goody just moves his head and ducks a wee bit.

"Gall can't move until he knows what the striker is going to do.

"It's an awful rule but we have got to deal with it and we didn't deal with it after that.

"I think it maybe shook us a bit at the corner and big Ab has lost his man and it's a handball."

Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes felt there was little to argue about on either count.

"Goodwillie has not touched it so I think the debate's over," he said.

"I thought it was a corner and I don't think anyone was really debating it too much.

"It's quite ironic because Celtic got their winner against us after a corner when it was two goal kicks. Sometimes you get the decisions and sometimes you don't. I thought it was a penalty and a corner.

"I've not seen it again but my first reaction was a penalty. We had a header going towards goal and a Thistle hand clearly stops it."

McInnes was delighted with his side's resolve after Barry Robson became the latest player on his absentee list when he picked up a hip knock on Saturday.

McInnes said: "The important thing was winning because the players played well against Celtic. Today we weren't at our best but we deserved to win and we made sure we did win with enough good performances."

McInnes, whose side moved four points off Celtic in fifth place, added: "We are two points better off than we were at this stage last year. That will probably surprise a few people but that is the case.

"I still think there is room for improvement and we will work hard to get that improvement."

Archibald was left to rue two missed headed opportunities in the latter stages for Stuart Bannigan and Osman.

"We had two good chances and we should have taken them," he said. "We didn't work the goalie.

"They are a hard team to play against when they go 1-0 up and they defend very well. But to create two good chances like that in the six-yard box, you have to take them.

"I thought we were poor first half but caused them more problems in the second half."