A last minute winner from James Maddison helped Aberdeen move up to second place in the Scottish Premiership with a 2-1 victory against rivals Rangers.
Jonny Hayes, who was expected to miss the match through injury, gave the Dons the lead, netting his second goal of the season in the opening minute of the second half.
But the Irish midfielder conceded a penalty 11 minutes from time for a foul on Lee Wallace and Andy Halliday converted from 12 yards that looked set to give Mark Warburton’s side a share of the spoils.
But the Dons were not to be denied and in the final minute substitute Maddison curled home a delightful free kick from 25 yards to seal a memorable victory.
Hayes was a surprise inclusion for the Dons as Derek McInnes made four changes from the team that started the 1-0 victory against St Johnstone in the Betfred Cup.
The Republic of Ireland international suffered a hamstring injury in the warm-up for Thursday’s match but was deemed fit enough to start.
Adam Rooney, Peter Pawlett and Mark Reynolds were also included, while defender Ash Taylor, James Maddison, Wes Burns and Jayden Stockley all dropped onto the bench.
It was an open and entertaining start to proceedings with Rangers midfielder Harry Forrester and Dons top scorer Adam Rooney both seeing shots deflected wide for fruitless corners.
The Aberdeen supporters carried out a minute’s applause in the 12th minute to mark the year of Rangers’ liquidation in 2012, which was followed by some angry exchanges between the home and away supporters in the South Stand.
The visitors went close to taking the lead in the 17th minute when a James Tavernier cross was headed narrowly over by former Preston North End forward Joe Garner.
The Dons survived another scare 10 minutes later when Garner’s long-range strike took a wicked deflection off Shay Logan but was superbly clawed away by Joe Lewis in the Aberdeen goal.
It took 31 minutes before Rangers goalkeeper Wes Foderingham was called into meaningful action for the first time but the former Swindon Town stopper was equal to Kenny McLean’s rasping drive.
The visitors were appealing for a penalty three minutes later when Harry Forrester tumbled under pressure from Mark Reynolds but referee John Beaton was unmoved.
Rangers ended the half on top with Barrie McKay and Jason Holt both passing up opportunities to give their side the lead before Garner was denied by a perfectly-timed challenge from Anthony O’Connor.
After a disjointed first half showing, the Dons opted to make a change at the break with James Maddison replacing Peter Pawlett – and within 20 seconds they were in front.
Hayes displayed his electric pace to break clear of the Rangers defence and latch on to a Rooney flick-on and then showed admirable composure to roll the ball under Foderingham to spark jubilant scenes around Pittodrie.
Rangers almost restored parity soon after when Martyn Waghorn nodded an Andy Halliday free kick inches wide with Lewis helpless.
But the Ibrox side were gifted a way back into the match 11 minutes from time when Hayes was caught on the wrong side of Lee Wallace and dragged the Rangers captain to the ground.
Referee Beaton had no option but to point to the spot and Halliday calmly sent Lewis the wrong way to level the scores.
But with the game looking destined for a draw, Maddison produced a sublime free kick in the final minute to win the match for the Dons.