Dundee United 0-2 St Mirren

Mandron (31′) Ayunga (66′)

St Mirren secured their first win at Tannadice since 2022 with a commanding 2-0 victory over Dundee United, significantly bolstering their prospects of consecutive European qualification.

The Buddies established early control, confidence clearly stemming from their unbeaten post-split form. Initial forays saw Mikael Mandron and Ronald Idowu direct efforts wide of the target, much to the encouragement of their vocal travelling support. For United, their top goal scorer, Sam Dalby was a consistent presence, but he could only head over their best chance of the first half from a dangerous Glen Middleton delivery.

Just after the half-hour mark, St Mirren’s early pressure paid dividends. A neat exchange with Ryan Alebiosu culminated in Mandron drilling a precise low shot past a helpless Jack Walton in the United goal. The visitors should have doubled their advantage shortly thereafter when Richard Taylor’s incisive pass split the Dundee United defence, sending Jonah Ayunga clear on goal, but his strike lacked composure and soared over the bar. This seemed to prompt a formation change for the home side, it offered a glimmer of hope when Ross Docherty’s header narrowly missed the target. Overall, Stephen Robinson would have been the considerably happier of the two managers at the interval, with Mandron’s well-taken goal marking their first against Dundee United in five encounters this season.

United offered a brief resurgence at the beginning of the second half, with Dalby flashing a shot wide before his powerful header was parried away by Zach Hemming. However, it was St Mirren who consistently appeared the more likely to extend their lead. The dynamic Alebiosu surged down the right flank before unleashing a fierce strike that Walton did well to tip away. A recurring theme of the second period was the Saints’ potent counter-attacking threat, with Stephen Robinson later describing his forward pairing of Mandron and Ayunga as “unplayable.” Indeed, the likes of Mandron, Ayunga, Killian Phillips, and Idowu frequently threatened the exposed United backline.

Phillips himself squandered a golden opportunity to seal the victory when the ball fell kindly to him inside the six-yard box, but mirroring Ayunga’s earlier miss, he blazed his shot over the bar. St Mirren did have the ball in the net for a third time when Mandron cleverly played in Ayunga, who cut inside and slotted a shot past Walton, only for the celebrations to be cut short by the linesman’s raised flag. As the final minutes ticked away and sections of the United support began to drift out of Tannadice, Greg Kiltie’s powerful shot was well saved by Walton. Considering the chances created, St Mirren’s victory could arguably have been even more emphatic than their last Tannadice success, a 3-0 win.

Jim Goodwin’s Dundee United will seek to recover from this setback when they travel to Ibrox on Wednesday evening. Meanwhile, St Mirren extend their unbeaten league run to three matches and will look forward to a crucial home fixture against Hibernian on Wednesday, a game that has the potential to significantly shape their European aspirations.

Teams

Dundee Utd: Walton Sevelj Gallagher Adegboyega Strain Ferry Sibbald (Campbell 83’) Docherty (Moult 70’) Middleton Trapanovski (Paton 64’) Dalby

St Mirren: Hemming Taylor (Iacovitti 72′) Gogic Fraser Alebiosu John (Tanser 61’) Boyd-Munce Phillips Idowu (Kiltie 76’) Ayunga Mandron

Attendance : 9,821