A second half fightback saw Aberdeen defeat relegation threatened Motherwell 2-1 at Pittodrie and cut Celtic's lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership to three points.Scott McDonald diverted in a Lee Erwin shot to give the visitors an interval lead but Ash Taylor and Adam Rooney scored in quick succession early in the second half to hand the Dons victory.It was far from pretty but nonetheless a crucial three points for Derek McInnes' team, particularly with Celtic not in league action again until next weekend due to Sunday's League Cup final against Dundee United.This was Motherwell's third defeat against Aberdeen this season and left them one place and one point above basement side St Mirren, who now have a game in hand.With Donvervorn Daniels anchoring the midfield, Ryan Jack was able to push forward and he went close in the seventh minute after collecting a David Goodwillie pass, curling an 18-yard shot just over the crossbar
Moments later, the same player shot straight at George Long from 25 yards.The hosts struggled to get into a rhythm in the early stages but they did carve out an opening for Kenny McLean in the 21st minute
Shay Logan picked out Goodwillie, who in turn found the former St Mirren starlet - but he could not keep his effort down from 14 yards.Motherwell gave as good as they got and, after Erwin sliced wide, they should have gone in front in the 29th minute
Conor Grant got in behind the Dons defence but Jamie Langfield came racing out of his goal to spread himself and make a goal-saving block.However, Aberdeen failed to heed the warning and trailed after 37 minutes
Erwin was allowed to move forward unchallenged and his shot from just outside the box took a huge deflection off McDonald and the ball found the bottom corner.The Steelmen's lead would have been short-lived but for an impressive save from Long, who dived to his right to keep out McLean's downward header.Aberdeen drew level though six minutes into the second half from a corner
Niall McGinn's deep delivery found the unmarked Taylor, whose header from eight yards was well saved by Long - but the ball squirmed from his grasp and into the net.Rooney then profited on a Long blunder two minutes to give the Dons the lead
The on loan Sheffield Utd goalkeeper charged out of his box to try to clear the danger but got into a mix-up with Louis Laing and Rooney nipped in to tap into an empty net.From looking assured and well organised in the first period, the visiting defence had quickly become ragged and they nearly conceded again in the 65th minute when McGinn drove a low angled shot just wide from Goodwillie's lay-off.In an effort to get back into the game, Well manager Ian Baraclough turned to substitutes John Sutton and Lionel Ainsworth and although the latter screwed a late shot wide, Aberdeen saw out the match to keep alive their title bid
Source: PA
Source: PA