Kilmarnock 2-0 Aberdeen: Killie go fourth as they deflate dismal Dons

Aberdeen’s deflating week continued as they were well beaten by Derek McInnes’ Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership.

A howler from Stefan Gartenmann allowed former Dons striker Marley Watkins in for a one-on-one to give Killie a comfortable cushion.

The victory lifts the Rugby Park side two points clear in fourth place, separating them slightly from the chasing pack with only four points between fourth and 11th.

Aberdeen remain 10th with nine points.

Prior to the match, Barry Robson insisted his side were still feeling positive after that 96th-minute sickener in the Europa Conference League.

Unfortunately for the Aberdeen manager, his players hadn’t been listening. The Dons mustered a mere two shots that came 35 minutes apart. In the interim, they created almost nothing.

Kilmarnock, meanwhile, passed up three superb chances before the eventual opener. David Watson was denied by an excellent Richard Jensen block, former Dons winger Matty Kennedy blasted over from the edge of the box, and Joe Wright glanced a header wide from close range.

Vassell made sure they didn’t go into the half empty-handed. Collecting a long ball forward, he chopped on to his left and drilled through the legs of Slobodan Rubezic, into the bottom corner.

Aberdeen have lost the last 19 games in which they conceded first, so it was perhaps no surprise when Kilmarnock only continued to mount the pressure.

Kennedy went close again, testing the reflexes of Kelle Roos, and Danny Armstrong cracked the crossbar after coming in from the right.

They didn’t need to work as hard for the eventual second. Gartenmann was caught dithering on the ball and Watkins closed him down, winning the ball and rolling in a more-than-deserved finisher.

Player of the Match – Kyle Vassell (Kilmarnock)

Dismal Dons downed by intense Kilmarnock – analysis

BBC Scotland’s Martin Dowden at Rugby Park

Back-to-back wins for Kilmarnock is a huge boost in what is a tight Premiership table. They were excellent and dominated the game, creating numerous opportunities while restricting Aberdeen to few.

There was a lot of quality in what Kilmarnock did. The tactics were spot on and the players executed them repeatedly. Extremely encouraging for Derek McInnes overall. They lacked a bit of threat up top last season but on this evidence, they have it now.

Aberdeen are something of a conundrum right now. Nine points from nine league games simply isn’t enough. You’d be hard pressed to make an argument that they deserved anything at Rugby Park.

Worryingly, it wasn’t clear what the strategy was. Whether the players weren’t carrying out instructions, or Kilmarnock just played better, or something else is up for debate.

Aberdeen were quite simply poor. This could easily have been a bigger defeat.

What’s next?

Kilmarnock visit lowly St Johnstone on Wednesday night, while Aberdeen go to Motherwell at the same time (19:45 GMT).