St Johnstone slumped to defeat in Aberdeen – and only had themselves to blame.
The Perth side battled to keep the Dons at bay at Pittodrie with a display that made up in determination for what it lacked in adventure.
But after getting away with two potentially deadly misjudgements involving long balls in the first half, a third – taken advantage of by Aberdeen striker Luis ‘Duk’ Lopes – proved fatal to Perth hopes, even before he notched his and the Dons’ second goal.
Key moments v Aberdeen
Saints started in containment mode against an Aberdeen side boosted by the return of Graeme Shinnie and roared on by an enthusiastic home crowd.
With blue-shirted bodies back in numbers, the Dons poked and prodded around the flanks, looking for gaps.
Callum Davidson’s side hinted at attacking intent with 17 minutes on the clock, when a neat move involving Cammy MacPherson, Graeme Carey and Drey Wright saw the latter fire in a cross for Stevie May, but the lone striker’s header flashed just wide.
For the remainder of the first half, bar a few eye-catching passing moves, it was a defensive shift.
Saints’ shape and containment game functioned reasonably until the break, albeit threatened by those aforementioned moments of extreme individual slackness, most notably on two separate occasions when Liam Gordon appeared to badly misjudge the flight of high balls, leaving his goalkeeper completely exposed.
With Bojan Miovski bearing down, Remi Matthews saved his captain’s blushes on both occasions – but question marks over Gordon seemed clear heading into the second half.
Saints looked more combative higher up the park after the break but just as the Perth side were looking increasingly comfortable, another stumble from Gordon under another high ball was followed by Aberdeen snatching the lead.
With Gordon on the deck and the ball bouncing toward goal, Dons striker Duk latched on to fire home the opener.
After he nodded home returning hero Shinnie’s corner with six minutes to go, it was game over.
St Johnstone’s star man
On a day when Cammy MacPherson stood up to be counted after being handed a start by Callum Davidson, only Remi Mathews was able to outshine his midfield colleague.
Matthews spared Saints captain Gordon’s blushes twice before the break, clawing one ball to safety before making a terrific save from another as the skipper lost his bearings.
He could do nothing to stop Aberdeen claiming their opener, but by that time he’d already denied the Dons in fine style.
He kept Saints in the game on an afternoon where mistakes might have killed them off long before they eventually did.
Manager under the microscope
After waking from an early coma against Hearts to find themselves 2-0 down – and ultimately three points down – a fast start was demanded against Dundee United.
It did not materialise – and another match went abegging.
Ahead of the trip to Pittodrie, the talk coming out of the St Johnstone camp was about getting back to old habits – and one custom was adhered to even before kick-off, with midfield alterations on the teamsheet for a 13th consecutive match.
Injuries, suspensions, form and similar malarkey has had an impact, but sheer weight of numbers in midfield is now also a pressing concern.
Callum Davidson opted for a central four, with Cammy MacPherson and Ryan McGowan in front of the back three and a Graeme Carey/Jamie Murphy duo in advance.
After a first-half in which individual errors looked the most likely thing to damage his game plan, Davidson must have considered taking Liam Gordon out of the firing line.
With Daniel Phillips on the bench, and Ryan McGowan on the park in midfield, there were chess moves at the manager’s disposal.
Instead, he opted to leave things as they were at the back – and things looked up for a time.
Saints were more combative early in the second half, had more of the ball and held a higher defensive line.
But their troubles with high balls were telegraphed before the break – and were at the heart of Aberdeen’s opening goal.
Gordon was again the player at the centre of things when he appeared to get caught out by, then stumble to the ground beneath, a long ball over the top.
Gordon was substituted in the moments after the goal, followed by a larger scale change of personnel and shape.
But by then, Saints were already two goals behind.
Player ratings
St Johnstone (3-5-2): Matthews 7; Wright 6; Mitchell 6; Gordon 4 (Clark 76, 4); Considine 6; Gallacher 5; McGowan 6; Carey 5; MacPherson 7 (Crawford 82, 3); May 5 (Bair 81, 3); Murphy 6 (Wotherspoon 66, 6).
Subs not used: Parish; Brown; Phillips; Kucheriavyi; O’Halloran.
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