Pape Habib Gueye's devastating run and finish opened the scoring at Pittodrie
Jimmy Thelin hailed the "amazing" impact of Pape Habib Gueye as the striker's double ensured the Aberdeen manager's record-breaking winning start stretched to 10 games with a hard-fought Scottish Premiership victory over Motherwell.
The rejuvenated Senegalese forward, who is now the league's leading scorer on five goals, broke the deadlock by racing clear from his own half before smashing in a devastating near-post finish.
And the 24-year-old sealed the win, which keeps the Dons level on points with Celtic at the top of the table, by heading in a simple tap-in on the rebound.
Motherwell pulled one back late on when Moses Ebiye diverted in Tony Watt's cross, but Stuart Kettlewell's men could not find another despite goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov clawing away a stoppage-time Liam Gordon header.
"His first [goal] was amazing," Thelin said of Gueye's opener. "The speed, how far away he was when he picked up the ball, staying cool to score.
"It was an amazing performance from him. His pressing and effort for the team is also amazing to see."
Red machine rolls on
The pre-match pyrotechnics show at a bouncing Pittodrie highlighted the feelgood factor at Aberdeen, who seem to be finding new ways to win games.
And the positive energy will not be fizzling out any time soon as the records continue to tumble for Thelin, who can take his team to a League Cup semi-final next weekend with a home win over fourth-tier Spartans.
The Swede is also now the first Premiership manager to win all five of his first league games since Giovanni van Bronckhorst with Rangers in December 2021.
For a while it felt like it should have been a comfortable afternoon, but it ended on a nervy note for Thelin and his players.
That is something the manager will undoubtedly analyse and address, but, in the main, the centre-back duo of Rubezic and Gavin Molloy impressed again.
Even at this early stage, the revival of Gueye is becoming one of the stories of the season. The forward’s blistering pace and power in the Dons attack adds another dimension.
Well worth point?
Second-half attacking changes sprung Motherwell into life, but they could not make Aberdeen pay with their openings.
Prior to the home side’s second, Watt planted a header straight at Mitov before fellow substitute Jair Tavares was denied by a goal-saving Nicky Devlin block.
On another day Kettlewell’s men could have come away with a point, which would have perhaps been deserved on the balance of the chances.
When the likes of Watt, Tavares and Jack Vale are in the right shape to start games, the Lanarkshire side should look more vibrant at the top end of the pitch.
They have been much improved at the other end this season, but Kettlewell will be disappointed with the goals his team conceded, particularly the first as Gueye was able to race clear from his own half.
What they said
Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin: "It was an exciting game until the end - the first half was really strong from us.
The second half they came out stronger, but I'm happy with how we defended together. It was still a good team performance to win the game."
Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell: "You could see the belief that was in our side. You could see we were trying to get out here with at least a point.
"We don't get too low, that's not an acceptance with defeat. We didn't shame ourselves."
