Aberdeen narrowed the gap on leaders Celtic to three points with a comfortable 3-1 win against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.
Two goals inside the opening 12 minutes had the Dons on cruise control and they were unfortunate only to have three goals to show for their efforts.
Dons captain Graeme Shinnie returned from suspension in one of two changes to the team which lost 2-0 to Motherwell at Pittodrie last week.
He was joined by Stevie May, the duo replacing Kari Arnason and Adam Rooney who dropped to the bench.
Kilmarnock manager Steve Clarke opted for youth over experience with Kris Boyd, the veteran striker who believes no Dons are good enough to play for Scotland, dropping to the bench along with former Ross County winger Chris Burke.
Lee Erwin and Adam Frizzell were their replacements while new signing, former West Brom midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu, was left out as he is short of match fitness.
Aberdeen gave themselves the perfect start as they swept into an early lead with Kenny McLean finishing off a fine team move when he drilled the ball low past Jamie MacDonald from just inside the penalty area.
The Dons were in the mood for this one and the deservedly doubled their lead in the 12th minute when Stevie May beat MacDonald with a header from Greg Tansey’s free kick although the ball was deflected by Killie defender Stephen O’Donnell.
Aberdeen thought they had made it 3-0 at the start of the second half when May converted a Gary Mackay-Steven cross but the winger was deemed to have been in an offside position before he crossed for May.
The Dons were left to rue the disallowed goal as Killie hauled themselves back into the game in the 67th minute when Jordan Jones cut in from the left wing before firing past Joe Lewis.
Killie’s hopes of getting something from the game were quickly vanquished as a fine solo run from May took him past two home defenders before he fired past MacDonald to make it 3-1.
Killie ended the game with 10-men with Jones was sent off for a second bookable offence for a foul on Shay Logan.
