Main fires Aberdeen to win that sends Ross County to the bottom of the Premiership table
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Aberdeen 2 (Main x2)
Ross County
Curtis Main's double gave Aberdeen all three points at Pittodrie, and sent Ross County to the bottom of the Premiership table.
County were hit by injuries in the first half, and were never able to recover after conceding just four minutes into the match.
Chances for either side were rare, but Ross Stewart had the best opportunities to get the visitors back into things, only for the ball to stay out every time.
The Staggies barely had time to get their feet on the ground before going behind.
A burst of early pressure saw Aberdeen win a corner, which Ryan Hedges swung towards the back post.
Ross County did not deal with it at all, and allowed the ball to fall into the six-yard box, where Curtis Main reacted quickest to turn the ball into the net.
From there any element of drama came from fitness issues, with most of the play from both teams just seeing the ball move from side to side.
Stuart Kettlewell, who had stuck with a 5–4–1 shape that he used against Rangers and Celtic in recent weeks, had to swap his wing backs just 17 minutes in when Alex Iacovitti was forced off.
That saw Josh Reid, who had dropped to the substitutes' bench, come on in his place, with Regan Charles-Cook switching from left to right wing back.
The back five would not last too much longer though, with new right centre back Connor Randall appearing to pick up a back strain, which saw him replaced by Billy Mckay in the 35th minute.
Mckay's introduction would see him linking up well with Ross Stewart without getting too close to Joe Lewis, but the Northern Irishman did have County's best chance of the half immediately before the interval.
Stephen Kelly took an in-swinging free kick from the left wing, which Mckay met in a decent bit of space in the middle of the box – only to head over the bar in the last action of the half.
At first, chances being few and far between threatened to be a pattern of the second half as well.
However, County should have levelled things up 10 minutes into the half when Stewart had a glorious opportunity to equalise.
Reid's cross from deep was deflected, looping high into the Aberdeen box, and it looked like the Dons' defence were waiting for Joe Lewis to come and claim the ball.
That intervention never came though, and that hesitation allowed Stewart to nip in behind and poke the ball towards goal – only to see his effort go the wrong side of the post.
Main would then make him pay almost immediately, taking the ball in on the edge of the Staggies box with his back to goal, smartly turning and powering the ball into the top corner.
Kettlewell responded by sending on Michael Gardyne and Jermaine Hylton in his last throws of the dice, and the former quickly hit a volley towards goal that bounced wide.
Stewart had another chance to pull one back with 10 minutes left on the clock, but Lewis dived to his left to make a good stop.
Aberdeen sat in and tried to see out their lead towards the end, and though that gave County more of the ball in the Aberdeen half, they could not find the net to get back in contention for points.
