Dundee United put their Scottish Premiership ghosts to bed in their 4-0 win over Aberdeen at Tannadice to register their first league win of the season.
Two quick-fire goals from Tony Watt and Aziz Behich just before the break consigned Aberdeen - who were without boss Jim Goodwin over his Ryan Porteous 'cheat' comments - to a loss against the Tangerines, before Jamie McGrath and a Ross McCrorie own goal settled a first league win since mid-May for the hosts. Leaving them on seven points in the table following a horrible start to the campaign, Liam Fox's men will have renewed confidence ahead of their admittedly uphill battle.
Two consecutive losses in the top-flight left the hosts with just two points from their opening eight games, more than easily classed as relegation form as they continued to struggle against some of the smaller sides in the league such as St Johnstone, St Mirren and more. But a comprehensive win over the Granite City outfit stoked a newly-lit fire in the orange shirts that have been burning out since the end of July as their relegation rivals start to feel the heat in the harsh winter weather.
Proceedings almost got off to a flyer for the hosts when Glenn Middleton's cross from out wide found the head of Jamie McGrath up front, although he couldn't direct his head on target as he searched for his first United goal in 11 games.
From there, the game became all but a cluster in the centre of the park; United's disgruntlement was clearly felt if not heard from the stands, with players getting stuck in to appease the Tannadice faithful. If they were confident about securing a result against the Jim Goodwin -less Granite City outfit, their swagger will have been tested - and some - when a diagonal ball found Jayden Richardson lurking at the back post.
His slide rule pass with Carljohan Ericsson seemingly AWOL found Bojan Miovski with the goal at his mercy just six yards out; but the Macedonian couldn't sort his feet out before a feeble back heel trickled out with a whimper.
Fouls galore were being made by both sides, with McGrath being cautioned for a cynical foul amid other sturdy challenges; yet with half-time closing in, United turned on the style for the first time in what feels like ages to race away with the game.
The ever-imposing McGrath aired moments of Lionel Messi as he weaved between two static Reds defenders, and though Tony Watt' s effort was superbly stopped bv Kelle Roos, Aziz Behich was on hand to score his first league goal in any competition since 2013/14. Typical Aberdeen, some might say.
And that was expected of the Dons in their calamitous state, then the second goal was not so - more down to the quality of the goal from a goal-shy Tangerines side. Kieran Freeman cut the ball back to Watt in a carbon-copy of the McGrath goal, and the former Celtic prodigy walloped the ball into the roof of the net to double their advantage infant of a stunned Dons side, where boos rang throughout the away end such was the shock.
The second half was better for the away side; Jonny Hayes' whipped cross could and should have been met by an onrushing attacker, though it harmlessly sailed out of play with nothing show for it. Leighton Clarkson entered the fray, and his outside-of-the-boot cross almost found Bojan Miovski, who was just a couple of yards behind the ball from the Liverpool loanee.
The Macedonian continued to miss chances, with Clarkson once again finding the 23-year-old in space with a delightful ball - though he blazed over with just Roos to beat in a massively rushed gilt-edged opportunity.
But it all came crumbling down with 20 to go as Scales committed a foul - albeit extremely dubious - which was rifled home emphatically by McGrath to wrap up the points on the east coast. Embarrassment wasn't completed there. With 10 minutes to go, Ross McCrorie headed a long, raking ball back to Kelle Roos - or so he thought, with the former Derby keeper acres away from his net, it trickled in to compound misery for the Dons.
Fans in the away end were massively dismayed that they had made a three-hour round trip to watch their side fall to a miserly defeat, whilst United fans were massively buoyant in their first league win for almost six months - but that's football for you. There was still a general lack of quality throughout, and United are by far the finished article. But it's a start for the club that, in terms of how they fared last season, should not be lingering at the bottom of the table.
New manager bounce
For all of the negativity under Jack Ross' reign, Fox has shown that he can be the man to lead United out of the mire and back into the middle of the hunting pack, at least for this season. Of course, Aberdeen should've scored with a multitude of chances, but the home side were relatively resolute throughout against one of the supposedly tougher sides in the division. If they bring those performances against those in the bottom six throughout the season, there will be no more ignominy suffered. The 9-0 and 7-0 losses to Celtic and Alkmaar look half the world away.
Clarkson conducts his creative class
Aberdeen were hopeless in the first half bar Miovski's missed chance from yards out, with the midfield failing to create anything as such, especially in the central areas of the pitch. But the introduction of Clarkson at half-time - whilst it didn't affect the result, as such - really gave Aberdeen that creative spark that will unlock defences in the majority of games this season given a bit of luck. The Liverpool loanee has shown what he is capable of doing this season with stunning goals against St Mirren and St Johnstone. But with Aberdeen's downfall coming before he even made his introduction. It is no coincidence that three wins, one draw and one loss have come from the games he has played a huge part in. Something for Goodwin to consider whilst he spends time on the sidelines, maybe.
Aberdeen's atrocious attacking display
On another day, they could've had four. But some horrific finishing, awful build-up and a lack of composure, concentration and all-round quality meant Aberdeen were only headed for failure from the start. In particular, Bojan Miovski is one face who didn't cover himself in any glory; the Macedonian himself could've had a hat-trick, and will be kicking himself over the his miss from six yards in the first half. At least he'd be kicking something and getting a result. But even deflecting away from his outing, he wasn't helped by further poor finishing from his teammates. A bad day at the office all round for the Dons, but they'll have plenty more if they continue to play like they did.
