Aberdeen manager Barry Robson lamented his team’s wasteful finishing after they began the cinch Premiership season with a hard-fought goalless draw at Livingston.
There was a distinct dearth of goalmouth action in both boxes, with the Dons unable to register a single shot on target.
Duk lacked composure in both halves as he failed to test Lions goalkeeper Shamal George from promising positions.
And Robson reckons his team would have picked up all the spoils had they been more composed in the final third.
He said: “We’ve got a clean sheet on the first day of the season at a place where it is always difficult to come and play.
“If Duk had his shooting boots we could have come away with a good result today.
“He would have put those chances away last year, and when you come down here you have to take them.
“We tried to play a bit longer and use our speed against their back three as when our technical players got on the ball they just got fouled.
“But when we tried to go in behind they just got deeper and deeper.
“You will never come down here and play free-flowing football but we tried to come and get the three points and could have done if Duk had been at it a bit more.
“But credit to Livi, they slowed it down, broke up the game with fouls and came away with a point.”
Livingston finished the game the stronger of the two teams and at least tested Dons goalkeeper Kelle Roos with efforts from Cristian Montano and Ayo Obielye.
Lions manager Davie Martindale, meanwhile, is adamant that his team will not be “bullied” this season after watching them stand up to last season’s third best side.
Martindale felt his team looked soft in defending their box at times last term after they let a top-six berth slip through their grasp.
He said: “The game went how I thought it was going to go, we set up in a way that I felt would match up well against them, they like to press really high and are aggressive in their press.
“Set-plays they are big and they have great delivery but I felt we nullified most of the threats they posed throughout the game.
“The most important thing was getting a clean sheet.
“I felt from February onwards we were very naive and weak, got bullied and that is not something that will happen this year.”
Fiorentina 2-2 Napoli: Kvaratskhelia keeps visitors' slim European hopes alive
Dethroned Italian champions Napoli's hopes of playing European football next season are hanging by a thread after they played out a 2-2 draw at Fiorentina in Serie A on Friday.
Napoli took the lead in the eighth minute through defender Amir Rrahmani, who nodded home a corner by Matteo Politano.
Cristiano Biraghi levelled for Fiorentina in the 40th minute from a free-kick, before M'Bala Nzola put the hosts in front two minutes later when he fired a shot into the bottom corner of the net.
Napoli's Khvicha Kvaratskhelia responded with another stunning free-kick early in the second half to rescue a point for his team.
Eighth-placed Fiorentina, on 54 points and with a game in hand, are five points behind Lazio in seventh.
They can still earn a Europa League spot either by leapfrogging the Rome side or by winning the Europa Conference League final in which they face Greece's Olympiakos on May 29.
Ninth-placed Napoli, on 52 points, still have a slim chance of making the Europa Conference League playoffs.
Data Debrief
Fiorentina left-back Biraghi has now scored six goals from direct free-kicks since the start of 2021-22, which is behind only James Ward-Prowse (seven) - now of West Ham and formerly of Southampton - as the most across Europe's top five leagues in that period.
Kvaratskhelia also levelled via a direct free-kick, making this the first Serie A match in which both teams scored via that route since Fiorentina against Lazio in April 2018 (Jordan Veretout and Luis Alberto in that case).
Southampton 3-1 West Brom (3-1 agg): Saints set up play-off final with Leeds United
Southampton saw off West Brom 3-1 at St Mary's on Friday to set up a Championship play-off final showdown with Leeds United.
Leeds thumped Norwich City 4-0 at Elland Road 24 hours earlier to book their place at Wembley, where Southampton now await on May 26.
The first leg between the Saints and West Brom finished goalless - just like the other semi-final - but the home side's quality told in the end.
Russell Martin's side dominated the first-half possession, with David Brooks going closest to scoring with a shot that hit the outside of the post.
Southampton made the breakthrough via a powerful Will Smallbone finish four minutes into the second half after Gray Diangana lost possession.
Darnell Furlong had a shot helped over by Alex McCarthy, while David Brooks - who assisted the opener - had a strong penalty appeal rejected.
Southampton remained in control, though, and Adam Armstrong scored a second with a shot through Furlong's legs and past Alex Palmer.
Armstrong's second goal arrived from the penalty spot in the 86th minute after Tom Fellows fouled Ryan Manning in the box, rendering Cedric Kipre's late header a mere consolation.
Marc Skinner signs Manchester United Women contract extension
Marc Skinner has signed a one-year contract extension as Manchester United Women head coach with the option of a further 12 months.
The 41-year-old guided United to their first major silverware last weekend with victory over Tottenham in the Women's FA Cup final.
United are fifth in the Women's Super League with one game to go - a massive drop on last term's runners-up finish - but Skinner will stay on.
"It's an honour to extend my stay at Manchester United," Skinner, who was appointed in 2021, told United's official website after the news was confirmed on Friday.
"I've always felt at home here, with our excellent players, staff, and fans.
"Being able to secure the team's first major trophy at Wembley was a real career highlight for me and another sign of our continued growth, on and off the field."
United conclude their campaign on Saturday against Chelsea, who lead Manchester City on goal difference entering the final day.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
