Jack Milne’s early goal edged Aberdeen into the Scottish Cup last 16 as the holders saw off Raith Rovers with a 1-0 win.
The Championship side gave a good account of themselves but couldn’t find a goal after the early setback.
And Peter Leven’s side made sure of their place in Sunday night’s draw, which gave the Pittodrie side another home tie, this time against Premiership rivals Motherwell.
Aberdeen started brightly, despite having suffered four successive defeats, and had their reward after just nine minutes.
Debutant Lyall Cameron, pitched straight into the action after joining on loan from Rangers, swung in a corner that Dante Polvara met at the front post to flick on.
Jack Milne challenged Josh Rae and bundled the ball over the line. The video assistant referee (VAR) took a while to check for a foul on the Rovers keeper, but Aberdeen had the lead and the defender had his first senior goal.
The Championship side responded well to going behind and quickly went close to levelling when a mix-up led to Dante Polvara’s backheel nearly evading Dmitar Mitov before the goalkeeper had to slap clear a looped passback.
Aberdeen showed a little more control after the restart. Interim manager Leven made changes before an hour had been played, bringing on Jesper Karlsson and Graeme Shinnie for Stuart Armstrong and Nicolas Milanovic.
The substitutions nearly paid off immediately when Shinnie picked out Karlsson in front of goal and in space. The on-loan Bologna forward took a touch but waited too long and his shot was deflected over.
Milne had a chance for his and Aberdeen’s second from another Cameron corner but headed wide, and Leighton Clarkson had a shot deflected past as the hosts looked to make things more comfortable.
Raith remained stubborn opposition but couldn’t find clear opportunities as the clock ticked down and Rae had to make a good save from Karlsson in injury time to keep the score at 1-0.
Aberdeen couldn’t add to their lead in the final moments but the final whistle sealed a rare victory for the struggling side and ensured that the holders’ cup defence continues, with a new manager expected to be in place for the next round.
Cup football is all about getting into the draw for the next round and Aberdeen will just be relieved to have ended a long winless run and have started their defence of the trophy positively.
Milne’s early goal stopped things being too nervy at Pittodrie and, in the second half, the Premiership side were well on top and didn’t look like they were in real danger of being knocked out.
That said, Leven will be more than aware that his team could have made things much more comfortable if they were able to turn possession into clear cut chances.
Too often the final ball let them down and a better delivery, or a sharpness in getting a shot away, would likely have made the scoreline look a lot better.
Raith gave a good account of themselves despite going behind early, but couldn’t turn promising moments into sustained pressure.
Still Dougie Imrie will be proud of how his side stayed competitive and hope that he can get similar performances to climb the Championship into the play-off places.
Aberdeen face the Premiership’s bottom two next, with Livingston visiting Pittodrie next Saturday (15:00 GMT), then Kilmarnock in Ayrshire a week later.
Raith host ninth-placed Queen’s Park in the Championship next Saturday (15:00), before facing the same opposition in Glasgow in the Challenge Cup three days later.
