Scottish Premier League: Dundee United go fifth after 3-1 win over Aberdeen
Barry Douglas, Craig Conway and Danny Swanson were on target as Dundee United climbed into the top six of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League with victory over Aberdeen at Tannadice on Monday night.
Telegraph staff and agencies 10:26PM GMT 07 Mar 2011
Douglas netted at the near post from a Conway corner after 29 minutes and the Scotland winger struck a swerving shot from outside the box which Dons goalkeeper Jamie Langfield could not hold as United took a 2-0 lead after 33 minutes.
Half-time substitute Josh Magennis pulled a goal back after 51 minutes, but Swanson struck a superb third nine minutes later to seal all three points and allow United to climb above Inverness and Motherwell to fifth place in the table.
Prince Buaben and Timothy van der Meulen started the match. Van der Meulen came in for Paul Dixon, who fell out of the squad altogether following the draw at Inverness, while Buaben replaced Stuart Armstrong, who dropped to the bench alongside Mihael Kovacevic, who had been missing since the Scottish Cup success last May due to a knee injury.
Aberdeen also made two changes, with Zander Diamond, who shook off an ankle injury, and Derek Young starting in place of Rory McArdle and Nick Blackman, both of whom were named among the substitutes.
United were beginning a run of five games in 12 days, having played fewer matches than anyone else in the Scottish Premier with the split approaching.
Peter Houston's side, who finished in third place last season, trailed sixth-placed Inverness by two points entering the game but had four games in-hand.
Aberdeen have gone from relegation contenders to top-half hopefuls after being revitalised since Craig Brown's appointment in December, but would be reliant on others slipping up in a congested table and a win on Tayside would support their cause.
The Dons went close to opening the scoring when Diamond met Rob Milsom's corner with a firm header from six yards which Dusan Pernis saved with his legs.
Diamond required treatment on a head injury and went off, returning four minutes later with a red bandage wrapped around his head.
David Goodwillie shot wide at the other end after racing onto Danny Swanson's through ball.
Diamond was soon back in the thick of the action, his high foot catching Buaben and referee Brian Winter immediately showing a yellow card to the Dons defender.
Swanson then turned Steven Smith on the right wing and was hauled down, with the Dons left-back following Diamond into the referee's notebook.
Conway's free-kick was glanced goalwards by Goodwillie, but the ball drifted out for a goal-kick and the United striker headed narrowly wide soon after following a deep Keith Watson cross.
Scott Robertson went down inside the right edge of the box, with muted penalty appeals, before Diamond required further treatment for his blood injury.
With Diamond off the field, United won a corner and Conway crossed for Douglas to head in simply at the near post.
Diamond was replaced after 31 minutes by McArdle, who was wearing an identical red head bandage following a clash of heads in the match with Hearts.
As McArdle entered the fray, Morgaro Gomis hit the foot of the post from another corner and Jamie Langfield deflected the rebound to safety.
But soon after the Dons goalkeeper was again picking the ball out of his net as United struck for a second time in five minutes.
Conway's swerving right-foot shot from 25 yards deceived Langfield, who only got a hand to the ball and it deflected into the bottom corner.
Pernis saved from Ryan Jack at the other end as the Dons sought a response before Langfield saved a deflected Swanson shot from long range and saw Van der Meulen's header from a corner go wide.
Magennis replaced the ineffective Sone Aluko at the interval, joining Scott Vernon up front as the Dons switched to a conventional 4-4-2 formation.
Swanson had a shot from 25 yards which hit the top of the net early in the second period as United resumed on the attack, but soon their lead was halved as the Dons pulled a goal back following indecision in the hosts' defence.
Douglas failed to deal with Jack's lofted ball into the area and Vernon outmuscled him before prodding the ball across from the byline for Magennis to head in after 51 minutes.
Milsom's long shot had Pernis at full stretch as the Dons went close to a quickfire second and Andrew Considine headed wide from a Paul Hartley corner soon after.
Andis Shala replaced Conway after 54 minutes for United before Goodwillie hit the post with an acrobatic effort after McArdle's weak clearing header.
Goodwillie then set up United's third after 60 minutes as Swanson beat the offside trap to latch on to his team-mate's through ball and fire an unstoppable left-foot shot into the corner.
A weak Shala shot then dribbled through Langfield's legs before the goalkeeper, under no pressure, collected at the second attempt.
craig conway, clydesdale bank, scottish premier league, douglas craig, paul dixon, dundee united, telegraph staff, craig brown, entering the game, cup success, target, milsom, van der meulen, kovacevic, revitalised, scottish cup, ankle injury, five games, mcardle, four games
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