“Ruthless” Dundee United got their first Scottish Premiership win of the season at the ninth attempt as they came alive to punish a meek Aberdeen.

Aberdeen – who have now won only two of their last 23 away games – presented little response as United’s Jamie McGrath sealed the points with a composed penalty, before Ross McCrorie’s calamitous own goal.

United are still bottom of the Premiership, but close to within two points of Kilmarnock, who play Hearts on Sunday, while Aberdeen sit fifth.

“We rode our luck a bit early on but we stood firm and then when the opportunities for us came we were ruthless,” said manager Liam Fox.

“We still need more from every individual, we need to keep pushing. It could be [a turning point] but we have to follow it up.”

Fox’s side have suffered some chastening defeats on their own patch this season – including a 9-0 scudding by Celtic – but after a fairly cagey opening half hour they sprang to life, with both first-half goals coming down their right-hand side.

McGrath, who looked a lot more like the player who shone on loan at St Mirren, pirouetted away from Hayden Coulson on the bye-line and crossed for Watt. When his shot was saved, Behich was lurking to convert his first United goal.

Four minutes later, Watt’s fierce shot found the top corner after Kieran Freeman had worked space for a cutback.

Suddenly the Tannadice crowd, who had watched their team lose four league games while scoring just once, had something to roar about, and United responded with an aggressive start to the second half.

Aberdeen, who had manager Jim Goodwin sitting in the stands as he serves a six-game ban, did edge their way back after the hour thanks to the introduction of 20-year-old midfielders Connor Barron and Leighton Clarkson.

The latter lofted a fantastic pass over the top for Bojan Miovski but the Macedonian striker lashed well over, having also got the ball caught under his feet with the goal begging when the game was goalless.

Those were Aberdeen’s best opportunities as they turned in another loose and insipid performance on the road in front of a 4,000-strong travelling support.

Up the other end, United added gloss to the scoreline when referee Willie Collum judged that McCrorie had felled Craig Sibbald in the box.

It was fitting that McGrath was the man to stand up and slam in his first United goal, having led the charge all night with a terrific display.

And it got even better for the home side when McCrorie, under no pressure, looked to head back to his goalkeeper Kelle Roos, but poor communication resulted in the defender heading straight into an empty net.

Player of the match – Jamie McGrath

United burst into life – analysis

United’s start to the season has been about as dreadful as it could have been. A manager down already, shipping goals, and no fun to be had at home.

That all changed on Saturday and Fox will hope this can be a springboard. Even before the goals started flowing, they looked more organised in the early stages.

Then, bang. They burst into life. There was always quality in this United squad, and finally it came to bear. McGrath was fantastic, Watt was as sharp as he’s been all season, the whole team worked so hard.

As for Aberdeen, it was a night to forget. Another to add to the long list of miserable away days for Goodwin’s side.

Defensively the team continue to be incredibly soft, having only managed six clean sheets in over a half century of games.

And in attack, which has been a brighter point this season, they were toothless. Goodwin has talked about a high-intensity game, and playing on the front foot.

But Aberdeen do not look like they know how to play without the ball. When they press, they don’t squeeze high enough and pressure the pass, which leaves them vulnerable to balls in behind and over into midfield.

And when they play out, they don’t drop deep enough to give passing options to allow the team to move up the pitch together.

The only bright spot was the return of Barron from his pre-season injury. He and Clarkson, barely out of their teens, made an impact off the bench, which in itself was damning of those who started.

What they said

Dundee United manager Liam Fox: “I’m obviously really pleased with the result and the performance, but let’s not kid ourselves, it’s only three points.

“Moving forward, that’s the level I expect. Some of the criticism has been justified, we’re all aware of and accept that. All we can do is look forward with positivity.”

Aberdeen assistant manager Lee Sharp: “It was just one of those games. The two first-half goals were really poor defensively, so we changed it and the reaction was good. But then we lost the penalty and the own goal. Very disappointing.

“Collective and individual errors cost us. We’ll analyse it properly on Monday and go through it with the team and have a chat about the game.”

What’s next?

United host in-form Hibernian at Tannadice on Tuesday (19:45 BST), before travelling to face Ross County on Saturday (15:00), while Aberdeen will look for a reaction at home to Hearts on Sunday (15:00).

Sourced From BBC