Kyrell Wilson was the hero for Falkirk as they eventually overcame 10-man Aberdeen, leaving the misfiring Dons rooted to the foot of the William Hill Premiership.
The Pittodrie side enjoyed the better of the first half but failed to find a way past the impressive Scott Bain, and their task was made harder when Nicky Devlin was sent off three minutes before the break.
Roles reversed, the Dons defended with their lives to keep the scores level until Wilson lashed home with 15 minutes left.
The home side had made three changes from the side beaten 3-0 in Romania, with Leighton Clarkson, Nicolas Milanovic and Kusini Yengi restored to the starting XI, while Falkirk brought in experienced midfielder Scott Arfield.
Bain had already held an Alexander Jensen effort in the opening stages when he denied Yengi following a neat pass from Ante Palaversa, the goalkeeper also doing well to beat the loose ball away from Dante Polvara.
Calvin Miller shot high and wide of goal for Falkirk before Bain was again called into action, this time diving low to his left to push away a Topi Keskinen drive.
Milanovic fizzed a low ball across the face of goal after a smart Yengi throw-in set him free, but the Australian was perhaps left to rue a lack of support.
Bairns captain Brad Spencer flashed an effort at goal just before the half-hour that had Dimitar Mitov scrambling to his right to save, but the goalkeeper was less troubled by Arfield’s free-kick two minutes later.
The impressive Bain made near-post saves from both Keskinen and Milanovic before Devlin’s dismissal.
Donning the captain’s armband with Graeme Shinnie on the bench, Devlin cleared from Falkirk winger Miller but left a boot in, drawing an initial yellow card from referee Ross Hardie, who would then upgrade the decision to a red following advice from VAR official Nick Walsh.
Dons boss Jimmy Thelin was also booked for his continuing protests as play on the field fizzled towards half-time.
With their numerical advantage Falkirk set about bombarding the Aberdeen goal with Mitov now the busier of the two goalkeepers, Aberdeen having sacrificed Yengi as they reshuffled at the break.
The Bulgarian saved well from Dylan Tait after good work by Arfield, and he was called into action again to deal with Spencer’s effort from range.
Just after the hour, he again spread himself to deny Arfield and Ross MacIver, before Jack Milne blocked from Spencer who was doing everything he could to find his way onto the scoresheet.
The Bairns were dealt a blow when Bain was forced off injured after 74 minutes but just 60 seconds later, they finally broke Aberdeen’s resistance when substitute Wilson drilled home a loose ball from 12 yards to open the scoring.
An error from Mitov in stoppage time saw him well outside his area and present the ball straight to Alfredo Agyeman, but the striker was unable to find the target, much to the goalkeeper’s relief.
