Leighton Clarkson’s stunning second half free-kick stung St Johnstone and sent Aberdeen home with three points.
The midfielder, on loan from Liverpool, curled a beauty of a strike beyond goalkeeper Remi Matthews in the 56th minute of the match.
It proved to be the only goal of a game where Saints again struggled to carve out the required amount of clear-cut opportunities across the afternoon.
Kick-off had been delayed 15 minutes due to a medical emergency in the Main Stand.
Saints entered the field of play with two changes from the Rangers defeat last week. Cammy MacPherson’s thigh injury kept him sidelined and that paved the way for Daniel Phillips - impressive at Ibrox - to make his starting debut.
The nod was also given to James Brown in the left wing-back position, replacing Adam Montgomery who missed out completely.
Down that side was where the Dons obtained early joy and soon a dangerous delivery was heading into the box. Vicente Besuijen went for the acrobatic finish but wasn’t able to find the target.
Striker Bojan Miovski did manage to find the back of the net on 10 minutes with a header from a Jonny Hayes cross. But he was adjudged to be offside.
Saints did, for a short spell, begin to look a touch more threatening. First Phillips tested goalkeeper Kelle Roos with a low left-footed drive.
And then, moments later, a delightful pass from Graham Carey sent Jamie Murphy deep into the box. His cut-back was for Theo Bair but he couldn’t connect from a promising position.
As the break approached Carey again dusted down his left boot and whipped in a powerful cross from the right flank. It evaded all apart from Roos, who was forced to touch behind for a corner.
Perth goalkeeper Remi Matthews wasn’t required to make a meaningful stop in the first half but did need to be alert early in the second half.
He kept tabs on a low Clarkson effort from the edge of the box which dribbled marginally wide.
On 56 minutes, he was again keeping tabs as Clarkson lined-up a 25-yard free-kick. Matthews threw himself to his right but was unable to stop the ball from finding the top corner of the net.
Manager Callum Davidson, not long after, made a triple change with Phillips, Carey and Bair all departing. Murray Davidson, Max Kucheriavyi and Stevie May were on.
But still Aberdeen were the ones with the attacking threat and Miovski almost doubled the advantage, prevented from doing so by a smart Matthews stop.
There was a half-chance for those kitted in blue when Davidson clipped into the box for Kucheriavyi but his header was always going wide.
Murphy tried to salvage a point late on with a terrific solo run and strike, but Roos produced a clever reaction save.
Up the other end, in injury time, Shayden Morris broke clear but Matthews stood tall to stop Aberdeen adding another.
Saints drop to 10th in the table ahead of Dundee United and Kilmarnock.
