Aberdeen win after controversial Rooney opener at Partick

Aberdeen equalled a 31-year-old club record with a fifth successive Ladbrokes Premiership victory as they saw off a disappointing Partick Thistle.A 2-0 victory at Firhill came courtesy of goals from Adam Rooney and Kenny McLean.The opening strike from Rooney in the 49th minute had the home fans fuming as the striker appeared to control a pass from McLean with his arm before slotting home. McLean grabbed the second goal nine minutes later.In the 16th minute Jonny Hayes had the first meaningful opportunity when he collected a pass from Graeme Shinnie before going on an jinking run, only to fire a tame effort into the comfortable arms of Tomas Cerny.Ten minutes later the visitors tested the Jags goalkeeper again after Rooney took a short corner to Hayes before regaining possession and embarking on a run into the Thistle box, but again Cerny was not seriously troubled by his shot.Thistle's one and only effort of a highly uneventful first half came five minutes from the interval with Stuart Bannigan firing wildly over the Aberdeen crossbar.With 60 seconds of the start of the second period Thistle threatened to open the deadlock.Firstly Sean Welsh blasted an effort which Danny Ward touched over, and from the resultant corner kick Liam Lindsay shot over the bar.Those misses were to come back to haunt the hosts as the Dons gained the lead with the controversial opener from Rooney.Much to the fury of the angry Thistle players, referee Stephen Finnie did not see the Irish forward appearing to use his arm to collect McLean's pass before firing past Cerny.Three minutes later and Rooney went close to grabbing a second as he received a cut-back from Shinnie and fired wide.However the visiting support did not have long to wait to see their side double their advantage. Cerny parried away a David Goodwillie effort and the ball was pounced on by the unmarked McLean who found the back of the Thistle net.In the 64th minute Callum Booth spurned an excellent opportunity to pull one back for the hosts after shooting straight at Ward, having been free in the Aberdeen penalty area.With 12 minutes remaining Jack Hendry got on the end of a Ryan Stevenson free-kick, only for his header to flash across the six-yard box as the Glasgow side sought a way back into the match.In the closing stages the men from the north-east were rarely troubled as they eased to the three points, with Thistle still without a win and slumping to second bottom of the table.