Stephen Robinson celebrates his Aberdeen side winning at his former clubSNS

Stephen Robinson celebrates his Aberdeen side winning at his former club

At a glance

  • Molloy, Ronan & Mouloua score first goals for Aberdeen

  • Nisbet adds late fourth

  • Robinson's side largely untroubled as they move up to eighth

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15/09/26

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Kheredine Idessane
BBC Sport Scotland at Fir Park

Aberdeen secured their second Scottish Premiership win of the season - and their first at Motherwell since March 2024 - with a terrific four-goal victory at Fir Park.

Defender Gavin Molloy, midfielder Connor Ronan and new Moroccan signing Ayoub Mouloua all claimed their first goals for Aberdeen with top-quality strikes in a game in which Motherwell dominated the ball but couldn't find a finish.

Molloy's effort brought the match to life before half-time, with the Irishman cracking in a superb long-range effort after efforts by Afeez Aremu and Kevin Nisbet whistled wide.

Seconds into the second half, Ronan doubled the lead with a powerfully struck shot from just inside the area which took a deflection past Alex Paulsen.

That goal seemed to deflate Motherwell, who went to their bench to try to find inspiration, but none of their four substitutes could make the impact they wanted, with Seb Palmer-Houlden guilty of heading a glorious chance over the bar.

A Toyosi Olusanya header from a free-kick almost gave Aberdeen a three-goal cushion but substitute Mouloua would not be denied, thundering into the top right-hand corner. And Nisbet jabbed in a late fourth off a post.

Aberdeen weren't overly troubled defensively as they picked up a precious and deserved victory in North Lanarkshire with their biggest league win since January's thumping of Livingston.

Graphic

Analysis: Motherwell's nice play lacks cutting edge

Motherwell will feel a fair bit of frustration about this one. They had a lot of the ball, weaved some really pretty patterns at times, but lacked the end product to reward some of their play.

Emmanuel Longelo provided much of the threat down their left-hand side. But the goals and assists that came last season for top-scorer Tawanda Maswanhise aren't there yet under Alfred Johanssen, who's still looking to find the kind of formula that worked so well for his predecessor, Jens Berthel Askou.

The defensive solidity that was such a hallmark of last season - and indeed the first couple of Premiership home matches this term - isn't quite there.

But it's early days under the Swede and it looks like there will be plenty of entertainment yet again for the Fir Park faithful in the coming months.

Analysis: Aberdeen prove deadly finishers

Aberdeen must have been instructed to shoot on sight by manager Stephen Robinson as they showed a real willingness to have a crack at goal every time they were remotely within range.

To add to their ruthless, clinical edge, they were organised at the other end when they had to deal with waves of Motherwell pressure and possession.

They were hoping that the League Cup quarter-final penalty shootout win over Kilmarnock on Saturday would kick-start their season and this win, at a ground where they don't have a good recent record, is a sign that things are definitely starting to move in the right direction for Robinson.

What they said

Aberdeen 'growing in confidence' - Robinson

Motherwell boss Alfred Johansson: "It's a mixture of getting punished hard from our opponents, together with the fact we had a lot of good scenarios that we like very much [but didn't make the most of].

"We found our 10s and wingers in behind, but we didn't manage to use those spaces enough. That led to unnecessary ball losses.

"The biggest mistake tonight, we start to stress, we lose our structure, we didn't remember the points we went over at half-time, we didn't look confident in our possession, and that led to ball losses again.

"We learn from it, we look forward. We know we can do so much better than this. It's a speedbump, a bump in the road. We will learn, all of us, and try to do better and make sure we're ready for Saturday."

Aberdeen head coach Stephen Robinson: "I thought we were very, very good considering the efforts the boys put in with 10 men on Saturday.

"Great energy, good organisation and we set out to try and dominate the middle of the pitch and break on them and it worked well. The players have to carry that out and they did it with energy and quality.

"Winning games breeds confidence, and you could see that grow as the scoreline went up. The players believed in themselves and believed in the ability that we know they have. We haven't been clinical, that has been an issue with us."

Player of the match

A. Mouloua
8.51
1 A. Paulsen
4.36
11 A. Lowry
4.35
45 E. Longelo
4.18
8 L. Fadinger
4.04
7 T. Sparrow
4.02
5 M. Moormann
3.90
71 J. Hodge
3.87
3 J. Girdwood-Reich
3.81
18 T. Maswanhise
3.51
13 J. Kanga
3.47
17 Regan Charles-Cook
3.46
19 I. Said
3.41
63 D. Levitt
3.16
47 S. Palmer-Houlden
3.06
15 E. Björgólfs­son
2.96
77 W. Vogt
2.80
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