Aberdeen were hit by a late sucker punch by Celtic at Pittodrie as defender Kris AJer’s goal gave the Hoops victory.
The Premiership champions were pushed all the way by the Dons, who had fought back from the loss of an early goal to force an equaliser and with Aberdeen pushing for a winner it was the visitors who broke upfield to find a late goal to claim all three points.
Dons boss Derek McInnes made two changes from the side which beat Hamilton 3-1 on Tuesday with Shay Logan returning at right back in place of Dylan McGeouch, who dropped to the bench, while Ash Taylor replaced Mikey Devlin in central defence.
Curtis Main, however, was rewarded for his goal and display in the win at Accies by keeping his place in the starting line-up meaning leading scorer Sam Cosgrove had to settle for a place on the bench.
Celtic manager Neil Lennon made one change from the midweek 5-0 win against Hearts with Nir Bitton replacing Jozo Simunovic in defence.
Aberdeen started brightly but they were caught on the counter as the champions took a 10th minute lead.
Leigh Griffiths tangled with Scott McKenna down the left before racing forward and crossing the ball to James Forrest who saw his shot saved by Dons captain Joe Lewis but Callum McGregor reacted quickest to convert the rebound.
The Dons were level 17 minutes later.
A Niall McGinn cross was cleared as far as Andy Considine. He found team-mate Connor McLennan whose cross was flicked on by Matty Kennedy into the path of Taylor and the defender chested the ball down before firing past Fraser Forster.
Aberdeen ended the half in the ascendency with Funso Ojo seeing a shot saved by Forster before McGinn headed wide.
The second half could not compete with the excitement and energy of the first half but the Dons kept the pressure on as they pushed for a winner.
Former Don Jonny Hayes was denied by Lewis in the second half while Aberdeen continued to search for an opening but the home side left the door open at the back and they were punished as a break from the Hoops ended with Forrest crossing for Kris Ajer to score a dramatic winner.
