Aberdeen 0-0 St Johnstone: Winless Saints deserve a draw

Manager Steven MacLean says teams need to be wary of winless St Johnstone, who climb up the Scottish Premiership table after a hard-fought draw against Aberdeen in difficult conditions at Pittodrie.

The Perth side, already bottom, had the upper hand in the first hour but were unable to create enough clear-cut opportunities with Graham Carey’s two shots over and Luke Jephcott’s blocked shot as close as they came.

Aberdeen, who had long struggled for opting for a direct approach, did have the ball in the net just before half-time, but Andy Considine’s own goal was ruled out after a VAR review as Luis “Duk” Lopes was ruled offside and interference with play.

Bojan Miovski also had a fantastic chance to break the deadlock in the second half, but after hard work he shot over the crossbar from inside the penalty area.

That miss – and substitutes Leighton Clarkson and Dante Polvara – gave Aberdeen some life in the final quarter, but they were unable to score the goal that would have moved them into fourth place.

Instead, Barry Robson’s side remain in eighth place while St Johnstone remain at the bottom of the table with just four points and three goals from their opening eight games.

“There’s a good team there, I’m happy with my team now,” MacLean told ` Scotland.

“We will get better, we will continue to improve and teams will have to watch us move up the table. I know we haven’t won a game yet, but we’re getting there and we’re going to win games.” .

“We are a team in transition, but we are bringing players back, I am getting options. I keep saying it, but we will soon break through and win games.”

Player of the game: Dara Costelloe

Dara Costelloe was lively and direct for St Johnstone, particularly in the first half.

Aberdeen fight, positive signs for Saints – analysis

Aberdeen seem to have a problem in games where they are expected to dominate and win.

Robson’s team may be the underdogs, but they defend well and attack teams effectively on the counterattack. This was impressively demonstrated by the 3-1 win against Rangers at Ibrox last week.

But apart from the 4-0 home win against Ross County, they have looked strangely subdued in the league.

Despite the quality they have in midfield with Connor Barron, Jamie McGrath, Graeme Shinnie and Clarkson, they choose to regularly bypass them with ineffective long balls through to Miovski and Duk.

The full-backs struggle to influence play in the opposition half, meaning they are tight and easy to defend. In the end they rallied, but it came too late.

A clean slate and a fifth game unbeaten are positives, but fans expect more at home against a team that has one win in 11 games.

Still, this performance suggested that better times could lie ahead for St Johnstone. They won the midfield battle and passed the ball cleanly in the first hour, unlike Aberdeen.

Jephcott and Dara Costelloe looked decent and linked up well, but the quality was simply lacking in the final third.

Just three goals in eight games in the league tell a story of their own. Despite their decent play in the first hour, they failed to get a shot on goal.

MacLean and his team will take the point away from home, but this first win must come quickly before they end up falling behind.

What they said

Aberdeen manager Barry Robson: “In the first half I thought we were very sluggish, it was a pretty bad game, neither team did anything. In the second half I thought we were a different team overall.”

“We managed to talk to them at half-time, tweak a few things here and there and we probably should have scored two or three goals.”

“You won’t get any better chances than us. We controlled the whole second half.”

St Johnstone manager Steven MacLean: “In the first half I thought we were by far the better team, it was just the final act.”

“In the second half I knew Aberdeen were coming at us but I thought we defended our penalty area really well.”

What’s next?

Aberdeen host Dundee in the Scottish Premiership after the international break (6pm BST), while St Johnstone play Motherwell at home on the same day (3pm).

Lineups

Aberdeen

formation 3-4-1-2

24Roos

6Garden man33Rubezic5Jensen

2Devlin8thBarron4Shinnie17Hayes

7McGrath

9Miovski11Henriques de Barros Lopes

• 24Roos
• 6Garden man
• 33Rubezic
• 5Jensen
• 2DevlinReplaced bybaseat 80′protocol
• 8thBarron
• 4ShinnieReplaced byClarksonat 56′protocol
• 17Hayes
• 7McGrathReplaced byDustat 56′protocol
• 9Miovski
• 11Henriques de Barros Lopes

Substitute

• 3MacKenzie
• 10Clarkson
• 14Gueye
• 19base
• 21Dust
• 22Change
• 23Duncan
• 27MacDonald
• 31Doohan

St Johnstone

formation 4-1-4-1

1Myths

14Wright6Gordon4consider it19Robinson

23Sprangler

44Costelloe22Blacksmith15For this reason11Carey

16Jephcott

• 1Myths
• 14WrightBooked for 76 minutesReplaced byMayat 78′protocol
• 6Gordon
• 4consider it
• 19RobinsonBooked for 81 minutes
• 23Sprangler
• 44Costelloe
• 22Blacksmith
• 15For this reasonReplaced byMacPhersonat 73′protocol
• 11Carey
• 16JephcottReplaced byKaneat 65′protocol

Substitute

• 3Smarter
• 7May
• 8thMacPherson
• 9Kane
• 10Clark
• 13Jaiyesimi
• 18McClelland
• 27Turner Cooke
• 31Richards

Referee: David Munro

Number of visitors: 16,816

Live text

1. The game ends: Aberdeen 0, St Johnstone 0.

2. The second half ends, Aberdeen 0, St Johnstone 0.

3. Attempt failed. Bojan Miovski (Aberdeen) tries to head it from the center of the penalty area, but the ball misses to the left. Assisted by Jonny Hayes with a cross from a set piece situation.

4. Jonny Hayes (Aberdeen) wins a free kick on the left wing.

5. Foul by Chris Kane (St Johnstone).

6. Foul by Dante Polvara (Aberdeen).

7. Graham Carey (St Johnstone) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

8. Attempt failed. Dante Polvara’s (Aberdeen) header from the right side of the six-yard box goes wide to the left. Assisted by Leighton Clarkson with a cross from a corner.

9. Corner, Aberdeen. Goal conceded by Dimitar Mitov.

10. Attempt saved. Bojan Miovski (Aberdeen) tries with his left foot from the center of the box, saved by the goalkeeper in the center of the goal.

11. Corner, Aberdeen. Goal conceded by Matt Smith.

12. Corner, Aberdeen. Goal conceded by Luke Robinson.

13. Attempt blocked. Duk (Aberdeen) tries with his right foot from the left side of the penalty area and is blocked. Supported by Jonny Hayes.

15. Stevie May (St. Johnstone) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

16. Corner, Aberdeen. Goal conceded by Graham Carey.

17. Luke Robinson (St. Johnstone) is shown the yellow card for a hard foul.

18. Ester Sokler (Aberdeen) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

19. Foul by Luke Robinson (St Johnstone).

20. Substitution Aberdeen. Ester Sokler replaces Nicky Devlin.

Player of the game

KaneChris Kane

Aberdeen

1. Squad number10Player nameClarkson

2. Squad number21Player nameDust

3. Squad number24Player nameRoos

4. Squad number8thPlayer nameBarron

5. Squad number6Player nameGarden man

6. Squad number19Player namebase

7. Squad number2Player nameDevlin

8. Squad number5Player nameJensen

9. Squad number33Player nameRubezic

10. Squad number4Player nameShinnie

11. Squad number7Player nameMcGrath

12. Squad number17Player nameHayes

13. Squad number9Player nameMiovski

14. Squad number11Player nameAll

St Johnstone

1. Squad number9Player nameKane

2. Squad number1Player nameMyths

3. Squad number7Player nameMay

4. Squad number14Player nameWright

5. Squad number6Player nameGordon

6. Squad number15Player nameFor this reason

7. Squad number44Player nameCostelloe

8. Squad number23Player nameSprangler

9. Squad number19Player nameRobinson

10. Squad number22Player nameBlacksmith

11. Squad number11Player nameCarey

12. Squad number16Player nameJephcott

13. Squad number8thPlayer nameMacPherson

14. Squad number4Player nameconsider it