Aberdeen kicked off and Scott Severin tried to catch Graeme Smith cold with a 60-yard effort that the keeper easily gathered. The Dons had started positively and forced the home side on to the back foot. They were given a warning however in the third minute when a cross was whipped across the Dons goal but fortunately there were no takers. Five minutes later a Chris Clark cross was half cleared and Brewster should have done better when Severin headed back into the danger area, but he failed to control the ball and it was booted out for the first corner of the match. The Dons failed to threaten from the set play and Motherwell cleared the danger easily.
The home side won their first corner in the 11th minute but Langfield punched the ball clear allowing the Aberdeen to break forward. The Dons had the ball in the net two minutes later when Paterson chested the ball past his own keeper but Brewster was adjudged to have pushed the defender. At the other end Motherwell won a couple of corners but once again Aberdeen defended well. The game then went through a scrappy stage with both sides conceding possession to easily.
Calderwood was forced to make a change in the 26th minute when Zander Diamond replaced the injured Touzani. Almost immediately Aberdeen had a penalty claim turned down when Smith ran at the Motherwell defence and fired in a cross that looked to be handled. All the Dons earned for their troubles was a corner kick and another swiftly followed but the home defence stood firm. Aberdeen took a deserved if somewhat fortuitous lead in the 32nd minute. Brewster flicked a long through ball on and Fitzpatrick stuck out a leg and looped the ball over his own keeper. Motherwell tried to hit back quickly, winning a free kick on the edge of the box.
Aberdeen defended the free kick then Diamond did well to block a Paterson shot. The Dons were then denied a second goal in the 36th minute when Smith made a fine block. Clark had collected the ball on the left and his shot was sliced to the edge of the box where Jamie Smith collected and fired in a fierce slow shot that was well blocked by his namesake in the Motherwell goal. It was Aberdeen who went closest to adding to the scoring before the break when they forced a corner in the final minute but they couldn't convert.
Motherwell looked to level early in the second half and Scott McDonald hit the side netting in the 49th minute. Three minutes later Hart had to look lively to deny McDonald before Aberdeen finally broke out in the 55th minute and won a corner. The delivery from Smith was poor but a minute later the keeper was forced to cut out a Hart cross. At the other end Motherwell won their own corner on the hour mark but Hart cleared well before the home side came back and Anderson made a magnificent tackle to deny McDonald a certain goal. Hart was booked in the 62nd minute for a foul on Murphy as the home side enjoyed a spell of pressure.
Two minutes later McDonald turned Diamond inside out and Vadocz smashed his cross against the post. Jimmy introduced Mackie in the 65th minute, replacing Steve Lovell, as the Dons continued to defend stoutly. The home side were laying siege to the Dons goal at this stage as Aberdeen struggled to get out of their own half. Brewster did manage to set up Jamie Smith in the 72nd minute but the keeper saved his curling effort. Richard Foster was then booked for alleged simulation in the 74th minute when he looked to have been upended on the edge of the penalty area.
Langfield gathered a Keegan header before Miller replaced Brewster in the 79th minute. Aberdeen appeared to be settling for the one goal win and when Jamie Smith broke in the 84th minute he had little support from the middle of the park. Motherwell almost levelled in the 89th minute when McDonald spun and fired in a shot that was brilliantly saved by Langfield. Aberdeen were now defending in depth as long throws rained down on the Aberdeen goal, but they broke out in the 90th minute as Hart raced up the right side. His cross was cleared and Foster collected the ball on the left, strode forward 10 yards and fired a screamer past Smith from 25 yards out to seal the win.