Aberdeen's winless run was extended into double figures on Sunday afternoon as two goals from Motherwell and a moment of madness from Slobodan Rubezic saw the Dons fall to defeat for the fifth game in a row.

The centre-half was sent off soon after Ewan Wilson's thunderous opener for the hosts for a clash of heads with Tony Watt, with Tawanda Maswanhise killing the game off moments later to make it no wins in 10 for the Reds.

An admirable second-half performance from the 10-man Reds failed to see Jimmy Thelin's side avoid defeat, with the damage done in one of the Aberdeen's most disappointing first-halves of the season so far.

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It's capped a dire start to 2025 with the Dons having lost to Ross County earlier this week and slipped down the table to fourth, with the fifth-placed Steelmen having now closed the gap to just four points.

A cagey start saw Aberdeen create the first chance of the game, with Jack MacKenzie pinging the ball to Graeme Shinnie, but the Dons skipper could only aim wide of the post.

He then found himself at the centre of the action with a huge shoulder charge to win the ball back and tee up Duk as he charged towards the box; the winger then putting a tame effort into the arms of Aston Oxborough.

Both sides then traded superb chances to break the deadlock, as the ball was floated in perfectly for Dan Casey to head home after Shinnie lost his man, but Casey nodded wide.

A corner into the Motherwell box then saw Devlin send a powerful header on target before the alert Oxborough batted the ball away, with the Steelmen keeper leading the way in the charts for saves this season.

Motherwell's manager Stuart Kettlewell joined the growing list of individuals booked in the opening half-hour by Nick Walsh, with the Well boss cautioned after complaints over several challenges made by the Dons.

But after several surges of threatening attack by Motherwell, the deadlock was broken with 34 minutes played by a thunderous Ewan Wilson strike.

MacKenzie was caught out on the edge of the box, and a cross was clipped by Rubezic, only to fall to Wilson who gave Ross Doohan absolutely no chance of keeping the ball out.

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Once again, the Reds were being asked huge questions with the risk of a fifth consecutive defeat now looming large for Jimmy Thelin's men.

A cross in towards Kevin Nisbet was floated perfectly for the header, but despite Oxborough's save to send the ball over the bar, the Dons striker was judged to have pushed a defender during his attempt.

Then things swiftly went from bad to worse, as Rubezic was shown a red card to hand the Reds an even bigger mountain to climb.

Tony Watt fouled the centre-back, and as he got up to his feet, he clashed heads with the former Celtic forward, with Walsh brandishing the red card and VAR agreeing with his decision.

To add to Aberdeen's woe, Motherwell pounced and doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time as Tawanda Maswanhise raced forward and beat the defence to slot the ball beyond Doohan.

It might well be the worst half of Aberdeen's season yet, but they had five added minutes to get through and Topi Keskinen drew unwanted attention with a reckless challenge.

Nilsen dropped back into the centre-half role, but he was facing a dangerous threat from the pace of Maswanhise and Moses Ebiye, with Thelin handed a half-time headache for who could plug the hole.

If things were bad on the pitch, it got worse off it during the break after both Dons assistant coach Peter Leven and his opposite and former Aberdeen defender Richard Foster were red carded following an altercation in the tunnel.

But the second-half did see more changes for Thelin's men with Dante Polvara and Leighton Clarkson sent on for Angus MacDonald and Kevin Nisbet, with Sivert Heltne Nilsen and Polvara deployed at centre-back.

Despite the numerical disadvantage, the Dons made the brighter start to the second-half, with Keskinen bursting forward to cut the ball back to Duk, only for the winger to shoot straight into a defender.

Duk then did well to meet a cross into the box from Nicky Devlin, diving for the finish, but he was beaten by the 'Well defence and it remained 2-0 with 30 to play.

Everything positive for Aberdeen was coming through Duk as the minutes ticked on, as Liam Gordon's impressive clearance denied the winger a close-range finish.

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Leighton Clarkson rattled the crossbar with a thunderous effort from the edge of the box, with Shayden Morris and James McGarry sent on for Keskinen and MacKenzie.

Man-of-the-match Maswanhise's 20-yard effort rolled just wide of Doohan's goal, with the Zimbabwean a constant threat in Motherwell's attack.

Sam Nicholson left Fir Park in disbelief after being left alone in the box with a glorious chance to make it 3-0, but he fluffed his lines and shot wide from point blank range before the offside flag was raised.

Five added minutes came and went, and with that Aberdeen had suffered a fifth consecutive loss - a run which they will now have to beat Hearts to end when the Jambos travel north next Sunday.