Aberdeen 1-0 Hearts

The Dons hitman – who went on loan to Easter Road in 2005 – leathered home in a fiery clash at Pittodrie.

Miller’s effort sees the Dons climb to within a point of the Jambos in the SPL ladder.

Aberdeen’s win – their fifth straight home success – comes despite a bug ravaging their squad.

And Jimmy Calderwood paid tribute to his ailing men.

He said: “To be fair to the lads there was a wee bit of illness in the camp.

“Gary McDonald played today even though he wasn’t feeling his best. We thought we would get sixty minutes out of him at the most but he nearly played for ninety.

“There is a lot of coughing and spluttering in the dressing room so because of that it was a very important victory and a victory that I thought we deserved in the end.”

Despite early Hearts pressure, it was the home side that should have taken the lead after 10 minutes.

Jeffrey De Visscher played in Darren Mackie but the pacy striker shot straight at Janos Balogh in the Hearts goal.

The Dons did take the lead after 36 minutes with a well-worked free-kick.

Scott Severin flighted the ball from inside the Hearts half to Miller at the back stick, and the hitman managed to evade his marker and clinically despatched on the volley.

Hearts enjoyed a healthy amount of possession after the restart but struggled to create anything from their dominance.

Miller almost grabbed his second after 69 minutes when he raced on to a Severin pass before cutting inside past Marius Zaliukas, but his powerful shot was pushed clear by Balogh.

The talking point of the match occurred after 73 minutes.

While Michael Stewart was waiting to take a corner for Hearts a huge melee broke out in the penalty box after Zaliukas appeared to elbow Andrew Considine.

The Lithuanian was given his marching orders while Miller and Christian Nade were booked for their parts in the altercation.

With less than 10 minutes to go the home support were appealing for a penalty when Mackie fell in the Hearts box under pressure from Lee Wallace.

But ref Brines waved away the appeals and booked Severin for his protests.

Robbie Neilson and Chris Maguire appeared to have been booked after the final whistle amidst more angry scenes.

And it was later reported that Wallace was sent off as the teams departed.