Five talking points from Aberdeen’s pivotal home victory over St Mirren, whose poor form continues.
Much-needed win for Stephen Robinson.
It felt like a must-win game for Robinson going into it, and he will be relieved to pick up maximum points against his former side. It was a bright start from the Pittodrie side, on the front foot, and going ahead through Lyons’ wonder strike. After that, St Mirren grew into the game, forcing Muller into some top saves, and eventually equalised through Sule. The second period was much better from the Dons. Nisbet was given a chance from the penalty spot as Yogane was fouled inside the area. The captain initially saw his penalty saved but was alert to convert the rebound to restore Aberdeen’s advantage. And Mouloua, off the bench, rounded off a successful afternoon with a tidy finish into the bottom corner.
It was far from perfect from Aberdeen, but it’s a massive three points nonetheless, against a side they had failed to beat in their previous three attempts. The Dons now sit in 7th place, moving ahead of St Mirren. Up next for Stephen Robinson and Aberdeen is a trip to the City of Discovery to face Dundee United, who they sit one point behind.
St Mirren’s struggles continue.
It was yet another disappointing afternoon for St Mirren. Going into the match, Craig McLeish’s side had lost their previous four matches, which, following the result at Pittodrie, turned into five. The Paisley side enjoyed spells of domination but lacked that cutting edge in front of goal, and defensively they were below par. The Saints started the season on a high, going unbeaten in their opening four games, keeping three clean sheets in their opening four, so there will be, despite recent performances and results, optimism that they can get out of the mess they find themselves in. Up next for Craig McLeish and St Mirren is a home match against a high-flying Dundee side.
Afeez Aremu.
One of the standout performers in a red shirt was midfielder Afeez Aremu. The Nigerian bossed the midfield, winning four out of five of his ground duels, making three interceptions, putting in three tackles and setting up the third goal which clinched the points with a quickly taken free kick which caught St Mirren out. The 27-year-old only played a singular minute off the bench in Aberdeen’s home defeat to St Johnstone last weekend but showed yesterday how pivotal he is to this Aberdeen side.
St Mirren lacking and leaking goals.
After a bright start to the season, which saw manager Craig McLeish win the manager of the month award for August, St Mirren have failed to kick on and have been in free-fall since narrowly losing at home to Celtic. The Paisley outfit have lost five on the spin and in that run have let in fourteen goals and only netted twice, highlighting their recent lack of quality in both boxes. The Buddies do play some neat football at times and have had more of the ball in each of their last three matches but have failed to make the most of it, which was clear to see yesterday, when they were on top against Aberdeen for the majority of the first period and could only go into the interval level, despite dominating the ball (67%) and creating some decent chances.
Substitutes seal the points.
Stephen Robinson acknowledged that something needed to change in the second half, so he changed the shape to a 4-4-2, bringing Yogane and Armstrong on. Armstrong created two chances and did find the net but went too early and was flagged offside. After being introduced, Yogane won the penalty, which Nisbet initially missed, but converted the rebound. Mouloua was introduced with just under twenty minutes of action left, and a minute after being introduced, cut inside from the left-hand side and slotted the ball into the bottom corner. A piece of Moroccan magic to seal the points.
