Jesper Karlsson at double as Aberdeen hammer Dundee for first Premiership win

Jesper Karlsson scored twice as Aberdeen thrashed Dundee 4-0 to record a long-awaited first William Hill Premiership win of the campaign.

The bottom-placed Dons, who had not registered a league goal in six attempts prior to this match, finally seemed to click, with Karlsson opening the scoring from the penalty spot before further efforts from Adil Aouchiche and Emmanuel Gyamfi gave the hosts a comfortable half-time cushion.

Karlsson added a fourth just after the hour mark to seal a win that brings Jimmy Thelin’s side back in touching distance of the teams above them.

Aberdeen had shown signs of improvement in last week’s defeat to Motherwell, and will have had their confidence boosted by scoring twice in Thursday’s narrow Conference League loss to Shakhtar Donetsk.

Steven Pressley’s Dundee have won just once this term, but welcomed back captain Simon Murray and playmaker Yan Dhanda, the two changes from the side beaten by St Mirren last week.

The hosts started well, with Gyamfi having an early effort held by Jon McCracken in the Dundee goal, while Kevin Nisbet should have netted with McCracken stranded, but fired straight at a covering defender who was able to clear.

The opener arrived midway through the first half as Cameron Congreve was adjudged, after a VAR review, to have used a hand in clearing a corner. As he did on Thursday night, Karlsson stepped up to convert into the bottom-left corner.

Dundee responded immediately, with Ryan Astley’s drive well held by Dimitar Mitov, but the Dons would soon be 2-0 up.

Aouchiche was initially crowded out by the Dee defence when he took on a Nisbet pass, but stuck out a leg to prod home from the edge of the six-yard box.

And just two minutes later, Aberdeen were out of sight, Gyamfi sending Stuart Armstrong away on the left, before the latter crossed in for the German full-back, who had continued his run, to stroke home.

The Dons had the ball in the net for a fourth time when Jack Milne bundled home after McCracken had blocked a Nisbet effort, but the flag went up against the young defender.

The fourth did come just after the hour when Karlsson, on-loan from Bologna, spun brilliantly to create space to curl past McCracken from eight yards.

A raft of changes for the home side disrupted their fluidity but not their dominance, and Mats Knoester flicked a header over the bar before Topi Keskinen, on the counter-attack, forced a strong save from McCracken.

And while Dundee improved in the second half, Mitov was left untroubled in the Dons’ goal – although he was helped out by his defence when the visitors threatened in the final minute.