Kilmarnock 0-4 Aberdeen

Rooney sweeps the ball home from a controversial penalty award

Aberdeen cruised to an 11th consecutive victory over Kilmarnock, with Adam Rooney scoring twice at Rugby Park.

The striker's first came from a controversial penalty when referee Willie Collum ruled goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald had impeded James Maddison.

Kilmarnock were found wanting from second-half corners as Andrew Considine and Ash Taylor added powerful strikes.

Rooney then passed up two great opportunities before squeezing a shot past MacDonald on 72 minutes.

The comfortable victory lifts Aberdeen back up to second in the Scottish Premiership stay second bottom.

Life's a pitch

Kilmarnock have tried to improve their home form by making the most of their pitch. They narrowed it some time ago. Today they decided against watering it, to slow the game down. There were also black pellets all over the artificial surface.

But there was nothing sluggish about Aberdeen, with Niall McGinn stinging the palms of MacDonald with an early free-kick and and the home keeper did well to keep out a curling effort from the same player on 20 minutes having made a good block to deny Jonny Hayes.

There was some nice one touch football from Aberdeen as they kept up a fierce tempo. And once they got ahead they had all of the momentum. At times in the second-half they were rampant.

There were a few flurries of activity in the final third from Kilmarnock but they were sporadic and ultimately fruitless.

Collum controversy

The opening goal arrived on 25 minutes and it was a tough call for Collum since the penalty incident happened at pace.

But did MacDonald really foul Maddison? Initially, it seemed that the goalkeeper had been fouled by the Dons playmaker, losing the ball from his grasp then tugging Maddison down.

Considine cracks in the second goal for Aberdeen

The home fans expected a free-kick and were horrified as it dawned on them that a penalty was coming. MacDonald was booked and then sent the wrong way as Rooney swept in the spot kick.

The home supporters were incensed and further angered when Collum waved away a penalty claim involving Kris Boyd.

Protest starts early

The Kilmarnock fans had planned a protest against former chairman and current company secretary Michael Johnston in the 18th and 69th minutes - 1869 the year the club was formed.

Such is Johnston's lack of popularity that the first disgruntled chants arrived after just six minutes when it became clear the object of their ire was absent.

Despite all the acrimony, there was a generally vibrant atmosphere among the home ranks but this swiftly changed to gloom as the game went against them.

Considine cracked in a smart finish when the ball dropped at his his feet and Taylor was unchallenged at the back post for the Dons' third goal.

With Killie in disarray, Rooney scuffed a shot wide with just MacDonald to beat and crashed a shot against the crossbar but he made it third time lucky when Hayes released him and his shot squirmed past the keeper to complete the rout.

Kilmarnock manager Lee Clark: "What's the point in having a go [about the penalty]? I will only lose a few quid. It was a strange one, that's all I'll say. I've seen the footage back as well. A strange decision to say the least.

"First goals are always important. Whether it's changed the game, in the fashion that it ended up, I don't particularly believe so.

"Second half we never performed at all. I take full responsibility for that. It's been men against boys in the last two games

"It became too easy in the end for Aberdeen. We are very, very disappointed."

Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes: "The pitch being a bit narrower, shorter and drier, you have to fight and work hard to get space to operate. Kilmarnock are a very competitive team, they had only lost to Celtic in the past four games, so we knew we had to get on top of them.

"Your focus will probably be on some of the movement and brilliant goals, but I thought our tenacity to get after them from the first whistle, play the conditions and get them turned and work hard to get space to get Maddison and McGinn on the ball, overlapping full-backs, Shinnie and McLean up on the game, centre-halves dominating... I thought it was almost a perfect performance."