Motherwell's Tawanda Maswanhise celebrates scoring to make it 2-0 against AberdeenSNS

Motherwell's Tawanda Maswanhise (right) celebrates scoring to make it 2-0 against Aberdeen

Jack Herrall
BBC Sport Scotland

Jimmy Thelin concedes out-of-sorts Aberdeen have "problems to solve" after Motherwell halted their own poor form with a dominant win at Fir Park - but the Swedish boss still believes the Dons' wretched run can be turned around.

The hosts were winless in four games - and Aberdeen in nine - but it was Stuart Kettlewell's side who seized the initiative when Ewan Wilson emphatically thundered a finish into the roof of the net.

Tony Watt's fizzed cross had initially evaded Moses Ebiye, but Wilson was alert and unmarked to slam it into the net past a helpless Ross Doohan.

As the first half was petering out, Aberdeen's Slobodan Rubezic was shown a red card for twice moving his head towards Watt after a clash between the pair.

Just two minutes after the dismissal, Tawanda Maswanhise showed impressive composure to control a long ball and double his side's lead with a powerful strike.

Liam Gordon popped a routine lobbed ball over the top, and Aberdeen's backline were unable to handle the lively Zimbabwe international, who brought it down, worked an angle for himself, and rifled in.

Aberdeen's Leighton Clarkson crashed a strike off the bar in the second half but the visitors failed to make much happen other than a handful of half-chances.

"It's not a good run, and we have some problems we have to solve, but I also have a strong belief that we're going to get out of it," Thelin said.

"Right now, we're having a difficult time. I know it's a good team spirit. They're trying but a lot of thing are going wrong in the wrong moments inside the games."

Aberdeen remain fourth, despite having last won in early November, but are now just four points clear of Motherwell.

Fast-starting Motherwell strike again

It sounds odd to say, but Motherwell played their best football in the first half against a full Aberdeen contingent.

Then again, they seem to prefer the first half in most games.

Motherwell have scored seven goals between the 30th and 45th minutes of games - only Celtic (13) and Hibernian (eight) have scored more. They have also scored 17 first-half goals in 21 games - only Celtic (25) and Dundee (19) have bettered that.

After looking rather sluggish against Hearts last time out, they looked rejuvenated and at it from the off.

In attack they seemed inventive and full of ideas, routinely playing around Aberdeen with ease thanks to the likes of Maswanhise, Ebiye and Wilson showing great composure and skill to enter the final third at will.

Now fifth, they can continue to look up based on their performance today, particularly in the first half.

Faltering Aberdeen bereft of confidence

You could look back through recent Aberdeen reports and copy and paste this section by now.

Bereft of confidence, worryingly flat, and conceding first yet again - boss Thelin does not have his problems to seek.

They were unable to get a foothold in the opening 45 minutes and were unable to cope with the lively attacking threats they faced, particularly in Maswanhise.

However, there are some positives to be found. Down to 10 men and chasing a two-goal deficit, their second-half display was encouraging.

Clarkson was brought on at the interval and formed an attacking duo with Duk that fashioned a couple of decent opportunities, with the former Liverpool midfielder smacking a shot off the bar.

Amid this slump they'll just be hoping they're due a win by the law of averages, as they seem unable to conjure one up by their own doing.

What they said

Jimmy Thelin

Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell: "The big thing for us was to get a reaction from our players, that's exactly what we got.

"I'm not saying your principles are abandoned at this stage, but at times you don't execute them as well as you want. There's a massive element of fatigue.

"We could play better in the second half and make the game easier but we managed to see the game out, which was always going to be the most important factor."

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin: "They score two goals a little bit too easy. Second half, the character of the team was there.

"I haven't seen [the Slobodan Rubezic red card] yet but it's always important to have this emotional control when you're out on the pitch."

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