It was far from a classic but Aberdeen returned to winning ways with a 1-0 victory against Scottish Premiership strugglers Motherwell last night.
Jonny Hayes’ early opener was enough to earn the Dons maximum points in a match that moved them above Celtic and into fifth position in the league.
Aberdeen’s failure to net a second goal meant the contest became increasingly nervy in the second period but the Dons managed to hold on for a hard-fought and welcome victory.
Derek McInnes made the surprise call to drop Jamie Langfield after conceding nine times in four matches and replacement Scott Brown would have been pleased to keep a clean sheet on a relatively trouble-free 90 minutes.
Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes made three changes to his team following last week’s 3-0 defeat at Hamilton, most notably replacing goalkeeper Jamie Langfield with former Cheltenham Town stopper Scott Brown.
Niall McGinn and Peter Pawlett were also reinstated in place of Barry Robson and top scorer Adam Rooney as the Dons looked to bounce back from last week’s below-par display and extend a five match unbeaten run at Pittodrie.
Motherwell had not tasted defeat in Aberdeen since November 2008 but headed north on the back of a dismal run with only two victories in 10 matches
In the build-up to the match, Dons manager Derek McInnes had played down talk that his side had a score to settle against the Steelmen following the 1-0 defeat on the final day of last season when Craig Reid’s last minute winner ensured Stuart McCall’s men pipped the Dons for second spot.
But the Dons looked like they had a point to prove and made an explosive start to the match, opening the scoring inside two minutes.
Jonny Hayes exchanged passes with David Goodwillie before storming through a static Motherwell defence and slotting the ball under former Don Dan Twardzik.
The early goal settled any nerves and the Reds were keen to add to their tally as soon as possible with Hayes’ cute chip from the edge of the area almost catching out the Motherwell goalkeeper moments later.
This was the worst possible start for a Motherwell side that looked particularly shaky in defence with Goodwillie breaking clear to latch onto a Peter Pawlett pass but the former Blackburn Rovers forward’s low drive was well held by Twardzik.
It was a quiet start to the match for Aberdeen’s new goalkeeper Brown, although he looked unconvincing when called into action for the first time, spilling a Josh Law corner under pressure from John Sutton, before Stephen McManus volleyed the loose ball inches over.
The Motherwell pressure continued with the Dons defence failing to deal with another Law corner which was headed over by Simon Ramsden from six yards out.
After the early excitement, the Dons performance dipped with the Steelmen ending the half on top but they were unable to find the goal to restore parity before the interval.
The Dons looked more lively after the break and almost doubled their advantage from a well-worked move which culminated in Niall McGinn turning the ball back into the path of Shaleum Logan’s whose low effort was gathered by Twardzik.
Both sides were struggling to create chances in the final third which made for a slightly subdued atmosphere inside Pittodrie.
The game needed something to spark it into life and it was no surprise to see the Dons make a change after 61 minutes with Rooney introduced for Pawlett, who had a quiet game.
The hosts had a chance to add a second almost immediately when McGinn’s corner struck Reynolds and fell kindly for Goodwillie but the attacker dragged his shot wide from close range.
Aberdeen upped the ante as they pushed for the goal that would kill the game on the contest and were unlucky when Goodwillie fired over after a smart counter-attack.
Twardzik, who looked uncomfortable throughout, failed to deal with Hayes’ deep cross into the box but Logan’s attempt to take advantage was thwarted when his effort was deflected wide.
Motherwell still looked capable of causing the Dons problems on the counter and Reid drew a smart stop from Brown in the 75th minute with a powerful shot from outside the area.
McGinn shot inches wide from the edge from edge of the area before Cammy Smith was brought on for the tiring Hayes as Aberdeen held on for all three points.