Aberdeen 4-1 Motherwell: McInnes hails 'brilliant' victory at Pittodrie

Derek McInnes hailed his side's "brilliant performance" as Aberdeen saw off Motherwell to delay Celtic's Premiership title celebrations.

And the 4-1 victory against Motherwell secured second place for the Dons ahead of Hearts.

"It was great to see so many goals going in and so many chances created," McInnes told BBC Scotland.

"It was a brilliant performance from the players and they deserve a lot of credit."

Aberdeen are nine points behind Celtic with three games remaining and face the league leaders at Celtic Park next Sunday.

Kenny McLean converted an early penalty and further goals from Niall McGinn, Adam Rooney and Jonny Hayes capped an impressive display.

Ash Taylor's own goal proved scant consolation for the Steelmen as the Dons ran out convincing winners.

"It was a very good performance," McInnes said afterwards. "The last home performance against Hamilton was something similar and some of our attacking play was terrific.

"I think in this game we had a defensive job to do as well against the threat of Motherwell . They always bring that and it's not often that Motherwell don't score goals. So, we had to get on top of them and I thought we did that very well.

"We lose an untidy goal and have about three or four opportunities to deal with it. That gave Motherwell a lift and, with Rooney coming off, we've then got to make adjustments.

"But Jonny's fourth goal was terrific; he picks it up on the halfway line and goes and takes on a couple of players, gets towards goal and slides it under the keeper. It was a fantastic finish and similar to the penalty he got us for the first goal.

"It's naive to think we're going to get our own way for 90 minutes against Motherwell. But I thought in general we dominated and controlled the game. I'm really pleased."

Fourth official rubs Motherwell wrong way

Motherwell lost captain Keith Lasley to a late red card for a challenge on McLean and manager Mark McGhee said he had no complaints over the decision, which led to his assistant Stephen Robinson being ordered to the stand.

However, he was less than impressed by the role played by the fourth official at Pittodrie.

"I've had a couple of incidents recently with the officials where I've felt I've been justified, but went away a wee bit embarrassed by my reaction, and even when we played Aberdeen last time, I reacted badly to Derek although we later sorted it out," he said.

Lasley was sent off late in the game by referee Bobby Madden

"With that in mind, myself and my assistant came here with a smile on our faces and determined not to get involved in anything but the fourth official seemed to have a different agenda.

"Throughout the game he was abrasive, and I think that eventually led to a loss of patience.

"The tackle itself was one that could have been a red card. Graeme Shinnie had a similar one earlier which I thought was a yellow card and that was what was given, so I thought it would have been the same outcome for Lasley.

"It was a bit of a surprise when the referee changed his mind and showed a red card but he's entitled to and I've no problem with that."