St Johnstone were knocked out of the Scottish Cup by Rangers and their losing run has been extended to six.
But this was a much-improved performance compared to previous weeks and manager Callum Davidson will hope that a corner has been turned.
Borna Barisic scored the decisive goal, with a late Saints push failing to produce an equaliser that would have taken the fourth round tie into extra-time.
With heads held high, it’s all about the league now for the Perth side and keeping themselves clear of the Premiership basement.
Talking points
The big off the pitch one was, of course, the lack of Saints fans in McDiarmid Park.
A boycott meant the home attendance of less than 500 was the smallest of the modern era since the club moved from Muirton Park.
Supporters setting off fireworks outside the ground on the 20th minute – to coincide with the Twenty’s Plenty campaign, supposedly – was another show of protest.
Those fans who did pay their £30 will have been pretty happy with what they saw.
Saints actually looked more comfortable in this first half than they did when they beat Rangers here in November.
Barisic’s finish for the stroke of half-time winner was a sweet one but it was unfortunate for the hosts that he scored in the right-back area of the penalty box seconds after James Brown had been taken off with a facial injury.
"Tavernier to the rescue!" 🎙
St. Johnstone give Rangers a big scare but their captain just managed to clear it away from his goal line 👀#STJRAN | #ScottishCup pic.twitter.com/S6LQ4KlIPy
— Viaplay Sports UK (@ViaplaySportsUK) January 21, 2023
The one big chance Saints got in the game fell to substitute Theo Bair but he didn’t make good enough contact on the ball after getting in front of his marker to meet a Nicky Clark cross at the near post.
Player ratings
Matthews 7, Brown 6 (Carey 5), Gordon 7, Considine 7, Montgomery 7, MacPherson 8 (Wotherspoon 4), Phillips 8, Hallberg 6 (Bair 4), Wright 7, May 7 (Clark 6), McLennan 7 (Murphy 4).
Saints’ star man – Dan Phillips
It could just as easily have been Cammy MacPherson as both men excelled in the middle of the pitch for Saints.
Phillips snapped into his tackles and barely wasted a pass, even when under severe pressure.
He will be a key player as this season progresses.
Manager under the microscope
Davidson promised changes and he was true to his word.
There were five of them.
The most significant alteration was to the shape of his side, though.
The back-four many supporters have been shouting for was deployed and, even though Saints were defeated, it looked to be a wise decision.
The system certainly worked well enough to persevere with.
Man in the middle
Alan Muir didn’t have any big decisions to make but if Brown had gone down in the box when he cut across Ryan Kent early in the first half, VAR may well have directed him to his pitch-side monitor.
🗣️ "Had he gone down, I think it would have been a penalty!"@Sports_EmmaD, @mstewart_23 and Ally McCoist discuss what they think could have been a penalty for St. Johnstone 👀#STJRAN | #ScottishCup pic.twitter.com/SD7fWRw9P8
— Viaplay Sports UK (@ViaplaySportsUK) January 21, 2023
There are plenty of attackers who would have taken full advantage of the slight contact made, let’s put it that way.
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