Saints edge ever closer to trapdoor Fourth straight loss puts pressure on
ST MIRREN ............................ 2 ST JOHNSTONE .................. 0 “I just think that’s as poor as we’ve been.”
That was the damning assessment of a visibly frustrated Craig Levein following a deserved St Johnstone defeat at the SMISA Stadium on Saturday - their fourth on the spin.
A Mikael Mandron strike and an unfortunate own goal by Dimitar Mitov did the damage in Paisley.
But Saints had not one poor result within the 90 minutes, but two.
Ross County’s added-time winner against Livingston in Dingwall now leaves the Perth side just two points above the relegation zone.
The biggest concern for the Perth faithful is the lack of an
attacking threat.
Despite the return of Nicky Clark in a blue shirt , Saints have now registered just two shots on target over the last 180 minutes of football.
They have hit the back of the net just once in their last four SPFL outings.
St Mirren were the ones pushing for an opener early on here.
Skipper Liam Gordon was in the thick of the action, winning the early aerial battle against towering Paisley striker Mandron.
Saints looked to play the ball into the feet of Clark in the opening 15 minutes with Adama Sidibeh spinning in behind.
The Buddies saw more of the ball but no clear chances came in the opening 35 minutes as the game lacked any real rhythm. Caolan Boyd-munce’s weak freekick was on target but was easily gathered by Perth keeper Mitov.
Hyeok-kyu Kwon had an attempt from range blocked by Andrew Considine after the halfhour mark.
But then, suddenly, came the breakthrough. And it was cruel on Mitov.
Another speculative effort, this time from Mandron, who was given too much space on the edge of the box, took a double deflection before the ball zipped across the turf and into the net via the post and the back of the diving Bulgarian’s head.
It followed the same pattern as the previous weekend: an untroubled Saints goal breached by a long-range strike.
The beginning of the second half was delayed by five minutes following technical issues with VAR, but when play resumed the hosts looked to carry on their momentum.
St Mirren came close to doubling their lead but Mitov rushed out to block two headers in quick succession, denying Mandron and Marcus Fraser.
Daillang Jaiyesimi was introduced for Graham Carey to add a third striking threat.
But the change had the opposite effect as the home side doubled their lead straight away with Mandron slotting home a halfvolley from close range.
St Mirren thought they had a third when Kwon robbed Matt Smith deep in the St Johnstone half before beating Mitov.
A repeat of the 4-0 drubbing on this ground in October looked on the cards, but referee Grant Irvine granted the away side a reprieve.
After being called to the VAR monitor he deemed Smith was fouled in the build-up.
St Johnstone’s biggest chances of the game came in the closing minutes.
Sidibeh’s strike from a wide angle was parried out to Smith, who had a couple of seconds to line up his shot, but he placed his effort agonisingly wide. Sidibeh then saw a point blank header palmed away by Zach Hemming.
There were worrying scenes at full-time when medics attended to Sidibeh after he collapsed. He was in a stable condition when taken to hospital shortly after.
Saints now face a huge week ahead to arrest their current losing streak with Aberdeen and Livingston to come.
But it is Ross County that is causing those of a Mcdiarmid Park persuasion to sweat the most.