Adam Rooney's 16th goal of the season moved Aberdeen back to within three points of league leaders Celtic as they beat Dundee at Pittodrie.
It was the Irishman's fourth in three games against Dundee this season when he forced home a Jonny Hayes cross.
The only surprise was that was the only goal of an open and entertaining game as Dundee impressed going forward but were poor defensively.
Goalkeeper Scott Bain produced a strong to saves to keep the score down.
The result means the Dons will be at most six points adrift of the defending champions when the pair clash at Pittodrie on Wednesday week.
The visitors' backline certainly enjoyed a charmed life early on as Aberdeen could have put the result beyond doubt in the first 14 minutes.
Dundee have rarely had problems scoring goals, but the fact they have now kept just one clean sheet in their last 16 matches speaks for itself.
Their defending at set pieces was particularly poor at times and it took some great saves from ex-Aberdeen man Bain to keep them within touching distance for so long.
Recent signing Darren O'Dea in particular had a hard time keeping track of Dons counterpart Ash Taylor and the Dons centre-half was denied on three occasions by the goalkeeper in the first half.
Taylor also headed one great chance past the post while Rooney was denied at point-blank range even before he scored his customary goal against Dundee.
Hayes took advantage of more poor defending to whip in a cross from the right and Rooney forced the ball over the line at the back post despite Bain's best efforts to save his side again.
The standard of goalkeeping was just as impressive at the other end when the visitors' attacking play opened up the Aberdeen backline.
Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes was frustrated as his side struggled to seal the win
Scott Brown marked his first start at Pittodrie since May with a series of important first-half saves to deny the in-form Kane Hemmings.
Andrew Considine, in for the suspended Mark Reynolds, also made a vital block to deny Dundee's Gary Harkins a clear scoring chance as play swung from end to end.
Paul Hartley's men suffered another blow five minutes into the second half when left-back Kevin Holt was forced off with nasty head cut as a result of a reckless Shay Logan high challenge.
Youngster Cammy Kerr was thrown on as a replacement and did better than some of his more experienced colleagues at times, as Thomas Konrad proved.
He inexplicably gifted possession to Niall McGinn on his own goalline and was relieved to see Rooney shoot wide of an open goal when picked out by the midfielder's cross.
Rooney then miscued when in a good position with 15 minutes left but the Dons fans can overlook that from someone who has scored 10 goals in their last 12 league matches.
That has been a major factor in Aberdeen's 10-game unbeaten run in the Premiership that certainly keeps the pressure on Celtic at the top.
They did though have a nervy moment at the end when Harkins shot over the bar from close range after O'Dea's knock-on.
Lineup, Bookings (4) & Substitutions (3)
Aberdeen
- 20 Brown
- 02 Logan Booked
- 05 Taylor
- 04 Considine
- 03 Shinnie
- 11 Hayes
- 23 Storie
- 07 McLean
- 10 McGinn
- 09 Rooney
- 17 Goodwillie (Smith - 82' )
Substitutes
- 14 Smith
- 15 Robson
- 16 Pawlett
- 18 Quinn
- 19 Collin
- 27 Wright
- 29 Harvie
Dundee
- 01 Bain
- 03 Holt Booked (Kerr - 51' )
- 04 Konrad
- 21 O'Dea
- 19 McGinn
- 08 Low (Loy - 74' )
- 17 Ross
- 18 McGowan Booked
- 07 Stewart
- 29 Harkins Booked
- 15 Hemmings
Substitutes
- 09 Loy
- 12 Mitchell
- 25 Dryden
- 26 Gadzhalov
- 27 Curran
- 30 Kerr
- 33 Wighton
Match Stats
Live Text Commentary
Full Time Match ends, Aberdeen 1, Dundee 0.
90:00 +4:04 Full timeFull Time Second Half ends, Aberdeen 1, Dundee 0.
90:00 +3:12Cameron Kerr (Dundee) wins a free kick on the right wing.
90:00 +3:12Foul by Cameron Smith (Aberdeen).
90:00 +0:14Attempt missed. Gary Harkins (Dundee) right footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses the top left corner.
89:42Corner, Dundee. Conceded by Graeme Shinnie.
88:55Attempt saved. Gary Harkins (Dundee) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
83:49Attempt missed. Ash Taylor (Aberdeen) header from the centre of the box misses to the left.
83:06Corner, Aberdeen. Conceded by Scott Bain.
81:36Kane Hemmings (Dundee) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
81:36Foul by Ash Taylor (Aberdeen).
81:18 SubstitutionSubstitution Substitution, Aberdeen. Cameron Smith replaces David Goodwillie.
79:24 BookingBooking Gary Harkins (Dundee) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
79:18Foul by Gary Harkins (Dundee).
79:18Graeme Shinnie (Aberdeen) wins a free kick on the right wing.
77:54Attempt missed. David Goodwillie (Aberdeen) left footed shot from the centre of the box is high and wide to the left.
75:38Attempt missed. Niall McGinn (Aberdeen) right footed shot from outside the box is too high.
74:50Corner, Aberdeen. Conceded by Paul McGowan.
73:17 SubstitutionSubstitution Substitution, Dundee. Rory Loy replaces Nicky Low.
72:24Foul by Greg Stewart (Dundee).
Kenny McLean (Aberdeen) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
71:20Corner, Aberdeen. Conceded by Thomas Konrad.
69:19Greg Stewart (Dundee) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
69:19Foul by Adam Rooney (Aberdeen).
68:44Foul by Nick Ross (Dundee).
68:44David Goodwillie (Aberdeen) wins a free kick on the left wing.
67:36Corner, Dundee. Conceded by Shaleum Logan.
66:48Attempt missed. Paul McGowan (Dundee) left footed shot from outside the box is too high following a corner.
66:28Corner, Dundee. Conceded by Shaleum Logan.
65:07Foul by Adam Rooney (Aberdeen).
65:07Darren O'Dea (Dundee) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
63:55Foul by Graeme Shinnie (Aberdeen).
63:55Greg Stewart (Dundee) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
63:00Foul by Graeme Shinnie (Aberdeen).
63:00Greg Stewart (Dundee) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
59:18Attempt saved. Adam Rooney (Aberdeen) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
58:36Attempt missed. Adam Rooney (Aberdeen) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box is too high.
57:07Foul by Paul McGinn (Dundee).
57:07Jonny Hayes (Aberdeen) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
55:09Paul McGowan (Dundee) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
55:09Foul by Graeme Shinnie (Aberdeen).
52:56Corner, Aberdeen. Conceded by Nick Ross.
51:13Delay over. They are ready to continue.
50:55 SubstitutionSubstitution Substitution, Dundee. Cameron Kerr replaces Kevin Holt because of an injury.
50:00Delay in match Kevin Holt (Dundee) because of an injury.
48:21 BookingBooking Shaleum Logan (Aberdeen) is shown the yellow card for dangerous play.
48:00Kevin Holt (Dundee) wins a free kick on the right wing.
47:58Foul by Shaleum Logan (Aberdeen).
47:18Foul by Gary Harkins (Dundee).
47:18Ash Taylor (Aberdeen) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
45:00Second Half begins Aberdeen 1, Dundee 0.
45:00 +0:16 Half timeHalf Time First Half ends, Aberdeen 1, Dundee 0.
44:49Nicky Low (Dundee) wins a free kick on the right wing.
44:49Foul by Shaleum Logan (Aberdeen).
44:28Attempt saved. Ash Taylor (Aberdeen) header from very close range is saved in the centre of the goal.
43:48Corner, Aberdeen. Conceded by Kevin Holt.
43:05Corner, Aberdeen. Conceded by Kevin Holt.
42:00Paul McGowan (Dundee) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
42:00Foul by Craig Storie (Aberdeen).
41:34Nicky Low (Dundee) wins a free kick on the right wing.
41:34Foul by David Goodwillie (Aberdeen).
40:32Corner, Aberdeen. Conceded by Paul McGowan.
40:10 BookingBooking Paul McGowan (Dundee) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
40:03Foul by Paul McGowan (Dundee).
40:03Jonny Hayes (Aberdeen) wins a free kick on the right wing.
37:12Hand ball by Ash Taylor (Aberdeen).
33:16Attempt saved. Kane Hemmings (Dundee) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
32:43Paul McGinn (Dundee) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
32:43Foul by Adam Rooney (Aberdeen).
29:09Foul by Darren O'Dea (Dundee).
29:09Scott Brown (Aberdeen) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
28:48Corner, Dundee. Conceded by Shaleum Logan.
27:50Attempt missed. Ash Taylor (Aberdeen) header from the right side of the six yard box is close, but misses to the right following a corner.
27:24Corner, Aberdeen. Conceded by Darren O'Dea.
23:45Attempt missed. David Goodwillie (Aberdeen) right footed shot from the right side of the box is close, but misses to the left.
22:48Corner, Aberdeen. Conceded by Paul McGinn.
19:06Greg Stewart (Dundee) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
19:06Foul by Jonny Hayes (Aberdeen).
17:07Attempt blocked. Gary Harkins (Dundee) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
15:49 BookingBooking Kevin Holt (Dundee) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
15:45Foul by Kevin Holt (Dundee).
15:45Jonny Hayes (Aberdeen) wins a free kick on the right wing.
13:09 Goal scoredGoal! Goal! Aberdeen 1, Dundee 0. Adam Rooney (Aberdeen) right footed shot from very close range to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Jonny Hayes.
11:53Attempt missed. Gary Harkins (Dundee) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left.
11:16Paul McGowan (Dundee) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
11:16Foul by Graeme Shinnie (Aberdeen).
9:13Attempt saved. Kane Hemmings (Dundee) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
7:55Attempt saved. Ash Taylor (Aberdeen) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
7:22Corner, Aberdeen. Conceded by Scott Bain.
7:09Attempt saved. Ash Taylor (Aberdeen) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box is saved in the centre of the goal.
6:45Attempt saved. Adam Rooney (Aberdeen) right footed shot from the left side of the six yard box is saved in the centre of the goal.
6:15Corner, Aberdeen. Conceded by Thomas Konrad.
2:49Corner, Aberdeen. Conceded by Thomas Konrad.
0:00First Half begins.
0:00Lineups are announced and players are warming up.
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