Aberdeen manager Stephen Glass believes his players were given no protection by referee Adam Farkas as the Dons survived a scare to book their place in the third qualifying round of the Conference League.
Jay Emmanuel-Thomas was forced off with an facial injury before the Hungarian official lost all control – as he brandished his yellow card 10 times in a frantic final 22 minutes of the Dons’ 2-0 loss at BK Hacken.
Despite the defeat, Aberdeen progress to next week’s third qualifying round thanks to a 5-3 aggregate win, where they will face Breidalblik of Iceland after they beat Austria Vienna 3-2 on aggregate.
Glass, who was among those booked, was unimpressed with the officiating.
He said: “Jay took a crack on the face when the opponent was nowhere near the ball, so it was strange there wasn’t a free-kick given for it when you see Jay’s eye.
“He’s taken a sore one. I have seen it, but I don’t know if there’s a stitch in it or not.
“I don’t think the officials helped us tonight. He booked myself, Declan Gallagher and (coach) Henry (Apaloo).
“Declan got booked for kicking the ball away, because you’re delaying the restart, but there was a sub being made at the time. So he didn’t delay it.
“I don’t think the officials helped us tonight, but it is what it is. You come up against that in Europe and if we have that problem for a long time then it’s a good one.”
The Dons boss was disappointed to leave Gothenburg with a defeat following the emphatic 5-1 win at Pittodrie a week ago, but believes the quality of Hacken on home soil showed how impressive his own side had been a week ago.
Glass said: “We are happy to get through the tie.
“Obviously we are not happy to get beat at any time, but the performance and the result last week gave a very good team the chance to play carefree against us.
“You saw tonight how good Hacken are and it showed exactly how good a result it was from us last week.
“I was really pleased with the way we closed the game out tonight. The players felt like they were up against it and the officials didn’t help us.
“But we coped with everything they were throwing at us in the first half.”
Glass felt his side were guilty of squandering several very good chances in the first half before Hacken scored their opener in the second half.
But he believes the display of his team over the two legs offers real cause for optimism ahead of the new domestic season, which gets under way against Dundee United at Pittodrie on Sunday.
He said: “Hacken started well, but other than that initial bit, there wasn’t too many times I thought they should have scored.
“Whereas at the other end I felt we had three or four good chances and if we had been sharper in the final third we would have.
“But I was pleased with the spirit of the group and the way they saw the game to the finish.
“Over the two legs, tonight and last week when it was a 50-50 game at Pittodrie, I think the lads showed what they’re all about.”
Emmanual-Thomas will be assessed following his knock, but Dean Campbell is expected to return for the Premiership opener after missing the trip to Sweden due to a groin strain.
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