A Martin Boyle brace helped Hibernian to a clinical 3-0 dismantling of Aberdeen at Easter Road.
Aberdeen-born Boyle twice punished slack Dons defending, before Florian Kamberi capped an impressive display with a meandering solo effort.
The nature of Aberdeen’s second-half collapse will worry manager Derek McInnes, with Hibs able to play their way through the red ranks with relative ease.
Ofir Marciano enjoyed a stress-free second period too, as any positivity from Aberdeen’s fight-back against Rangers quickly evaporated.
McInnes named an unchanged side from the 2-2 draw with Rangers, keeping faith with Ash Taylor at centre-half and James Wilson out wide.
Hibs had the first shot at goal and Joe Lewis had to be at full stretch to deny Stevie Mallan, as the midfielder latched on to Scott McKenna’s miscued clearance to force a near-post save from the Dons skipper.
Eighteen-goal striker Sam Cosgrove had the visitors’ first sight of goal, drawing a similar stop out of Marciano after Ryan Porteous deflected the ball into his path.
On a number of occasions the Dons broke forward and the final pass let them down, with Jon Gallagher and Wilson both seeing attempts to feed in Cosgrove but seeing green-and-white shirts intervene at the decisive moment.
Marciano was called into action with a double stop to deny a promising Dons counter. Taylor’s clearance from a Hibs corner was gathered by Wilson, who galloped clear of the home defence. Cutting inside on his left foot, he drew a parry from Marciano into the centre of the box, with Cosgrove seeing his follow-up blocked by the goalkeeper’s legs.
After a tame end to the opening period, Hibernian came to the fore seven minutes into the second half. Scott Allan’s pass split McKenna and Andy Considine to find Boyle, who delicately lifted the ball over Lewis before tapping into an empty net.
Hibs were now riding the crest of a wave, with Considine required to block from Mallan and Lewis gathering Jason Naismith’s speculative effort at the second attempt. The energy looked to have dissipated out of Aberdeen’s performance.
McInnes responded by making a triple substitution, hauling off Wilson, Shay Logan and Zak Vyner for Ryan Hedges, Dean Campbell and Curtis Main, switching to a 3-4-3 in a bid to draw level.
But it was given little time to take effect. Kamberi’s crisp one-two with Melker Hallberg allowed him to superbly release Boyle, who was able to outpace Considine and clip Hibernian into a two-goal lead.
Kamberi put the gloss on a ruthless second-half display from the hosts, weaving his way past a staggering Dons defence and slipping the ball inside Lewis’ near post to pad the scoreline further.
The closest sniff Cosgrove got of goal was rebuffed by a Paul Hanlon challenge, ensuring Hibernian finished the game spotless and with three points in tow.