Aberdeen delivered their best performance of the season to secure an emphatic 4-0 victory over Motherwell at Fir Park.
Gavin Molloy put Stephen Robinson’s side ahead shortly before half-time, before Connor Ronan put some daylight between the sides just seconds after the restart.
Motherwell huffed and puffed without troubling the Dons’ rearguard, and the visitors put some gloss on the scoreline late on courtesy of strikes from Ayoub Mouloua and Kevin Nisbet.
The win – Aberdeen’s first in the William Hill Premiership since the opening day – moved the men from the Granite City to within a point of fifth-placed Motherwell with one game to come before the international break.
The hosts made just one change from their defeat against Rangers at Ibrox 10 days ago, with Jardell Kanga coming in for Ibrahim Said.
Dons boss Stephen Robinson made three following their penalty shootout triumph over Kilmarnock in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final on Saturday, as Molloy, Toyusi Olusanya and Findlay Marshall came in for Dan Happe, Mitchy Ntelo and Stuart Armstrong.
Having spent the first 10 minutes on the back foot, Aberdeen finally came to life when Afeez Aremu took aim from range, only to see his powerful volley fall just wide with Alex Paulsen scrambling.
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Motherwell dominated the opening half hour but lacked a cutting edge in the final third, with an Emmanuel Longelo strike from a tight angle – comfortably parried away by Marius Muller – the best they could muster.
Marshall and Nisbet both saw curling strikes from range narrowly miss the target before Molloy showed them how it is done by drilling a piledriver into the bottom corner after Motherwell failed to clear their lines in the 38th minute.
Ronan doubled the Dons’ advantage within 30 seconds of the restart, capitalising on slack play out from the back to beat Paulsen from 20 yards with the aid of a deflection.
Substitute Seb Palmer-Houlden should have done better with a header from six yards, and Motherwell were made to pay for that miss when Mouloua put the outcome beyond doubt with 15 minutes to play.
Nisbet did well to feed Ronan midway inside his own half, and the midfielder played a wonderful through ball into the Moroccan’s path.
A poor touch initially looked to have taken the chance away from him, but he regrouped and rifled high into the roof of the net to send the small band of travelling supporters behind the goal wild.
And it got even better with three minutes to play when Nisbet outmuscled his marker and slid home after latching on to a hopeful ball over the top to seal a first league win on the road this calendar year.
