Gary McDonald was sent off for celebrating Aberdeen's equaliser against Motherwell but his team-mates held on to save manager Mark McGhee a 1-1 draw on his return to Fir Park.
The midfielder headed home midway through the second half after Motherwell goalkeeper John Ruddy had looked set to defy Aberdeen's attempts to equalise Lukas Jutkiewicz's early opener.
McDonald received a second yellow card for lifting his shirt over his head but it was the 10 men who came closest to claiming all three Clydesdale Bank Premier League points.
Ross Forbes had the first shot on target of an open start to the game but Jamie Langfield was behind his 20-yard strike.
Ruddy rescued the hosts with a point-blank save from Lee Miller's header after a Richard Foster cross found him unmarked eight yards out. And Motherwell took the lead when Jutkiewicz fired home his fifth goal of the season in the 13th minute.
There appeared to be little threat when the on-loan Everton forward collected the ball just inside the penalty box, but he shuffled past Foster and fired a low shot that beat Langfield at his near post.
Aberdeen almost conceded another soft goal three minutes later when Jerel Ifil failed to deal with a Ruddy kick-out, but Andrew Considine cleared Jamie Murphy's header off the line after the Motherwell youngster had lifted the ball over Langfield.
Jim O'Brien replaced Forbes at half-time with Murphy moving wide in an orthodox 4-4-2 but Motherwell made a sloppy start and Ruddy again dived to parry after Ifil was allowed a free header from Charlie Mulgrew's corner.
Miller headed over from eight yards after a set-piece from Mulgrew and the Dons left-back's deliveries paid off in the 68th minute when his deep corner found McDonald unmarked.
The midfielder headed inside the near post but his joy immediately turned to despair. Crawford Allan had booked McDonald in the 56th minute for pulling back Giles Coke and gave him a second yellow card after he pulled his shirt partially over his head.
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