Ante Palaversa, Topi Keskinen, Vicente Besuijen and Kevin Nisbet all struck within the second half as Aberdeen defeated Dundee 4-1 at Pittodrie to maneuver prime of the Scottish Premiership.
Simon Murray missed a penalty late within the first half for the guests however partially atoned with a header to make it 2-1 halfway by way of the second interval.
Besuijen, although, netted only a minute later to revive Aberdeen’s two-goal benefit earlier than Nisbet added the fourth late on to make sure Jimmy Thelin aspect’s 100 per cent report at residence remained intact.
The victory lifts Aberdeen three factors away from Celtic on the summit and 12 factors away from third-placed Rangers, with each Glasgow groups in motion on Sunday afternoon.
How Aberdeen thumped Dundee
Aberdeen made two modifications from the aspect overwhelmed 6-0 by Celtic within the Premier Sports activities Cup semi-final. Out dropped Sivert Heltne Nilsen and Jamie McGrath, changed by Palaversa and Leighton Clarkson.
Dundee additionally made two switches following their win over Kilmarnock. Jordan McGhee and Josh Mulligan made the beginning line-up in change of Ethan Ingram and Antonio Portales.
The house aspect began promisingly. Jack MacKenzie’s effort from distance sailed excessive over the crossbar earlier than Oluwaseun Adewumi got here shut on the different finish after being picked out by Lyall Cameron’s looking ball.
Aberdeen responded and Duk’s try from a decent angle was saved by Jon McCracken, earlier than one other drilled shot from the identical participant was equally repelled.
Dundee continued to look a menace on the break and from one other Cameron go, Murray may solely shoot into the goalkeeper’s arms.
The guests then wasted an excellent probability to go in entrance simply earlier than half-time. Gavin Molloy tried to shepherd the ball out for a goal-kick however ended up hauling down Murray within the course of. The striker took the penalty himself however Dimitar Mitov dived to his left to reserve it.
Aberdeen had one last probability within the closing seconds of a frantic first half however once more McCracken was equal to Keskinen’s curling shot.
The house aspect made the breakthrough seven minutes into the second half. Clarkson’s nook was solely half-cleared and Palaversa pounced to thrash a shot previous McCracken.
Duk then hit the put up with a header earlier than Aberdeen grabbed their second aim within the 57th minute. Nicky Devlin’s throw-in was flicked on by Sokler and, after Clark Robertson tousled an tried clearance, Keskinen drilled a low effort into the far nook.
Dundee grabbed a lifeline when Murray atoned for his earlier penalty miss by heading Scott Tiffoney’s cross previous Mitov with 20 minutes remaining.
Hopes of a comeback, although, have been snuffed out inside 60 seconds. Nisbet, solely simply on the pitch, took a fast free-kick and fellow substitute Besuijen was onto it in a flash to complete.
Nisbet claimed his aspect’s fourth in added time, his shot taking a deflection off Ryan Astley on its well beyond McCracken.
What the managers stated…
Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin: “Every game is difficult so the performance was the most important thing to get the result.
“I’ve to say the character of the group [makes it] so good to get this expertise with these gamers, how they discover their approach again into video games.
“Obviously it was a difficult first half. We were quite open in our structure and the position was not really where we wanted it to be.
“And the followers stayed with us and supported us, even when it was not the proper half. Within the dressing room we talked about tips on how to modify small issues, not panic, to have higher positions, discover higher rhythm inside the sport, and extra stability in tips on how to defend the transitions.
“And I think the players answered that really well. That says a lot about the character of the players that we didn’t change everything or stress ourselves in these situations.”
Dundee supervisor Tony Docherty: “I think if we’d gone in at half-time 2-0 up it wouldn’t have been an unfair reflection on the game. Sometimes you come in at half-time and don’t want to praise the players too much. You just want to continue what you’re doing.
“However I can not get away from my disappointment and frustration on the nature of the targets we misplaced. Aberdeen did not must do rather a lot to attain these targets and I believe that is self-inflicted. It has been a wee little bit of a narrative this season.
“I’ve got a really young group and it’s about developing and improving them. But there comes a time they’re making too many mistakes, individual errors, and it’s costing the team. So as a manager, I need to address that.”
