Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes made two changes to the team which won 5-0 a week ago for the second leg of the Europa League first qualifying round tie against Daugava Riga in Latvia.
Wary of the excesses of the Daugava challenges in the opening match, Ashton Taylor, made Aberdeen debut, and Andrew Considine came in for the injured Peter Pawlett and Russell Anderson, with the captain dropping to the bench.
With suspicions of match-fixing, two players sent off in the first match and five goals conceded it has not been a good week for the Latvians.
Indifference from the home support was just as meek, with a smattering of just a couple of hundred supporters inside the ground, which is the national athletics stadium.
Drinks sold outside the ground, until the Uefa delegate stepped in with gusto, combined to give the match a surreal feel with photographers banned from the surrounds of the pitch as freight trains rattled and rolled past the stadium.
A new black away kit for the Dons and the funereal atmosphere was only broken by the lusty efforts of the 220 Aberdeen supporters but the home side were better, quick to break with the five new faces in their clearly keen to impress with Viktor Flora the first to try his luck from distance with a shot which Jamie Langfield sail over his bar.
Emils Knapsis stole a march on Taylor and was the next to shoot wide but the Dons started to stamp control on the match although the Latvians were not afraid of the occasional shuddering tackle urged on by the eight flag-waving supporters who presumably made up the Daugava ultras.
Niall McGinn had Aberdeen’s best early chance but after clearly build-up play he volleyed narrowly wide from the edge of the penalty area but the Dons’ dominance was rewarded with a stunning opener when, from Jonny Hayes’ cross from the left, Adam Rooney produced a sumptuous flicked finish which gave goalkeeper Ignis Krumins no chance – a wonderful goal which ended any fanciful hopes of a comeback from the home side.
Russian referee Mikhail Vikov was keeping control of the match well and Shay Logan was close to extending Aberdeen’s lead after little more than half an hour with a strong surge and low show which inched just past the post.
Another sharp finish from Rooney, reacting first and with devastating effect to Logan’s cross, doubled Aberdeen’s lead five minutes before the interval and the scoreline threatened to become humiliating for the outclassed visitors when, with just moments remaining before the interval, Rooney stretched to meet Hayes’ driven cross from the left and volleyed in his and Aberdeen’s third goal.
Game over and a superb display of match-management from the Dons who will certainly face a more formidable challenge next Thursday when they host Dutch club Groningen.