St Johnstone pulled off a late smash-and-grab in the Granite City with an 88th minute Liam Craig penalty earning them a share of the spoils.
The goal was a real kick in the teeth for Aberdeen who had dominated proceedings throughout.
The last time these two sides met at Pittodrie back at the start of October, Saints stunned Derek McInnes’s side, romping to a memorable 5-1 victory.
St Johnstone never came close to scaling those heights today but they showed great character to dig in to secure a priceless point.
Aberdeen almost made a dream start when with just seconds on the clock, Simon Church benefitted from a lucky break of the ball on the left to square to Kenny McLean but the midfielder’s shot lacked conviction and Saints keeper Alan Mannus gathered easily.
The home side dominated the opening stages in terms of territory and possession but it was St Johnstone who next had a great opportunity to open the scoring in the 24th minute when Darnell Fisher swung a cross in from the right but Graham Cummins headed over when he should have at least hit the target.
As the half progressed, it seemed that the Dons would rue the absence of injured talismanic goal-scorer Adam Rooney but they finally managed to break the deadlock in the 35th minute.
Niall McGinn delivered a corner from the left towards Ash Taylor. The defender’s bulleted header looked certain to hit the back of the net but Mannus produced an unbelievable stop only for the rebound to fall for Church who gleefully stabbed home from close range.
As the second 45 began, Aberdeen were once again in the ascendant with Saints struggling to get out of their own half.
However, for all the Dons’ dominance, St Johnstone were still alive in the contest at 1-0.
And so it proved with the Pittodrie crowd stunned late on when referee Steven McLean judged that home skipper Ryan Jack had tripped Saints sub Craig in the Aberdeen penalty area.
The Dons protested long and hard but Craig calmly dusted himself down before sending the spot-kick past Aberdeen keeper Scott Brown to snatch an equaliser and a share of the points.
For full report, reaction and analysis, see Monday’s Courier.