Motherwell 0, Aberdeen 3: Injury-hit Dons record impressive win as Derek McInnes hails Sam Cosgrove

Niall McGinn wheels away in celebration after netting Aberdeen's second of the afternoon

The Dons manager was effectively denied the services of seven members of his first team squad through injury and suspension yesterday but goals from Sam Cosgrove, Niall McGinn and Zak Vyner was a fair return for the way the visitors controlled this game.

Collectively they showed the same spirit and aggression that salvaged a draw against Hibernian prior to the international break, despite ending the match with just nine men, only to surpass that here with three excellent individual strikes.

McGinn's was a combination of determination as well as skill when he dispossessed a dithering Allan Campbell before sweeping a wonderful rising shot into the far corner of the net.

Vyner, employed alongside Greg Leigh in a makeshift midfield pairing, marked his first for the club by spinning into space 25 yards out before swerving a shot in-off the inside of a post.

Both came early in a second half Aberdeen totally dominated but inevitably it was Cosgrove's opener after just 15 minutes that started what threatened to become a rout, completing an incredible year for someone who hadn't even scored one by the start of last October.

It's now 36 goals in 50 appearances since, an amazing 15 in 16 games this season, and if there's many more of the quality of this latest one then Lazio's rumoured interest in the striker back in August might not be so fanciful after all.

McInnes admitted earlier in the week that he expected to field bids for prize assets Scott McKenna, Lewis Ferguson and Cosgrove during the January transfer window and the way the latter continues to show he's more than just a powerful target man makes that more than likely.

Aberdeen's plan to defend like demons then break at pace was perfectly realised when the player signed for a nominal fee from Carlisle United left Barry Maguire trailing before scoring with an audacious chip over Mark Gillespie.

It's been quite a transformation for Cosgrove as McInnes confirmed when he said:"When Sam first came here he would have put that ball out the stadium but he can take credit for his progress.

“Morelos is worth millions, Edouard is worth millions. We signed Sam for £25,000. We took a punt on him and he is worth much more now. We won’t big him up too much as we want to get through January with him still here though."

Of course Motherwell remain in third place for now but manager Stephen Robinson's pre-match warning not to read too much into that lofty position so early in the season was extremely prescient given this latest setback at home.

A win would have stretched their advantage over Aberdeen to seven points, now it's reduced to on. That's no real surprise though as all four defeats in the league and Betfred Cup this season have come at Fir Park.

Missing a penalty after five minutes didn't help their cause, although Joe Lewis will feel just was done when he pushed James Scott's spot kick over the bar as there seemed to be little contact when the Dons captain clashed with Christopher Long.

Then captain Peter Hartley went off with a head injury while substitute Bevis Mugabi was still waiting to come on when Cosgrove scored which is why Robinson went into damage limitation mode more effectively than his players afterwards

“Key moments in the game went against us" claimed the Motherwell manager. "We dominated the first half, missed a penalty at the crucial time which gave them a lift, and they took advantage when we were down to 10 men, then our centre-half makes a poor decision.

“Allan was caught for the second goal but you look at the Aberdeen team and there wasn’t too many lacking experience out there for Aberdeen. We haven’t lambasted our lads though. We’ll just get on with it and keep doing what we do."