The 10 men of Aberdeen dug deep to come from behind before beating Ross County 3-2 to close the gap on leaders Celtic to three points at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
The Dons played for more than an hour with 10 men against the Staggies but they still had too much for Jim McIntyre’s men as they ran out comfortable winners at Victoria Park.
The Dons started the game full of intent with Adam Rooney and Jonny Hayes both going close with efforts but County weathered the storm before coming back into the game and their period on top brought the breakthrough they craved midway through the first half as the Dons found themselves a goal down and a man down.
Captain Mark Reynolds was the man caught out as a high ball from County sent Alex Schalk clear and when Reynolds put his hand on the Dutchman’s shoulders he went down on the edge of the box, prompting referee Crawford Allan to send Reynolds off and award a free kick.
It went from bad to worse for Aberdeen as County midfielder Ian McShane fired the resulting free kick low and under the Dons defensive wall to give the Staggies the lead.
It looked bleak for the Dons at that point but their response was emphatic and they found themselves leading by half-time after scoring twice in three minutes.
Adam Rooney hauled his side level from the penalty spot when he scored his seventh spot kick of the season after Chris Robertson had fouled him in the box before Shay Logan slid in at the back post to bundle Jonny Hayes’ low cross across the line, courtesy of a deflection off Staggies defender Jamie Reckord.
Despite their numerical advantage County could not make the most of their extra man and it was the Dons who extended their lead when Logan fired home his second of the game on the hour mark following a fine flick from Rooney to divert Graeme Shinnie’s cross into his path.
County set-up a thrilling finale when McShane scored his second of the game eight minutes from time, firing a spectacular goal past Brown from 25 yards but Aberdeen held on to claim all three points.