St Mirren moved to within two points of Dundee United to keep their hopes of taking a European spot alive heading into the final week of the season.
Goals from Mikael Mandron and Jonah Ayunga either side of half-time saw Stephen Robinson's men earn a thoroughly deserved win 2-0 at Tannadice.
There were two changes to the side that defeated Aberdeen as captain Mark O'Hara missed out due to a hamstring injury, while Oisin Smyth dropped to the bench. That saw Caolan Boyd-Munce and Roland Idowu come in from the start.
A bright start from Stephen Robinson's men saw Idowu's low cross find Killian Phillips in good space inside the box, but the midfielder's heavy touch saw it run out of play. Less than a minute later, Mikael Mandron came agonisingly close to giving us an early lead. Boyd-Munce worked the ball on and the striker had acres of space to have a go 25 yards from goal with his effort curling just wide of the left-hand post.
Zach Hemming was then forced into action for the first on 10 minutes when he did well to block close-range strike from Ross Docherty. Idowu fired into the side-netting a minute afterwards as the game ebbed and flowed in the early stages. The end-to-end nature continued as Sam Dalby headed Glenn Middleton's cross over from six yards, while Richard Taylor did similar with an Idowu cross soon after. A lovely bit of interplay between Declan John and Phillips almost yielded an opener on 17 minutes. It ended with Ayunga getting a strike away with the shot saved by Jack Walton.
The game settled after a frantic start, but Saints would hit the front just after the half-hour mark. Phillips' persistence saw him win the ball down the right side and he fed the ball into Ayunga whose strength allowed him to find Albeiosu. The wing-back shuffled the ball to his left to find Mandron who curled low into the bottom corner from 20 yards to the delight of the 1,200+ travelling support.
Saints should have doubled their lead when Ayunga raced clear on goal but sent his effort high over the bar. The offside flag was raised in any case but TV replays showed that the forward may have been onside.
The home side made a quick start after the restart as they looked to restore parity. Dalby came close twice in the early stages of the second 45. He first sent a strike just wide of the far post on 48 minutes before forcing a save from Hemming two minutes later.
The Buddies weathered that early United storm and almost added a second a few minutes before the hour mark. Alebiosu won the ball in his own half and drove forward before forcing a terrific low save from United goalkeeper Walton who got a strong hand to turn away the strike.
Saints would add a second on 66 minutes when Ayunga got his name on the scoresheet. Idowu slid the ball on to the forward who has loads of space to run into. He danced by Emmanuel Adegboyega before firing low beyond Walton to double our lead.
From that point on, the Buddies were in complete control and should have added more goals. Idowu lashed over with 15 minutes remaining after chopping in from the left, while Phillips should have scored from close range after Walton had saved substitute Greg Kiltie's initial effort. Alebiosu saw a strike deflected over while Ayunga had the ball in the net on 82 minutes but was flagged for offside. Walton saved again in injury-time to deny Kiltie, before the forward fired the follow-up wide.
Full-Time: Dundee United 0-2 St Mirren
St Mirren: Hemming, Fraser (c), Gogic, Taylor (Iacovitti 72), Alebiosu, Boyd-Munce, Phillips, Idowu (Kiltie 76), John (Tanser 61), Ayunga, Mandron
Subs Not Used: Urminsky, Bwomono, Smyth, McMenamin, Scott, Mooney
Dundee United: Walton, Strain, Sevelj, Gallagher, Adegboyega, Ferry, Docherty (Moult 70), Sibbald (Campbell 83), Middleton, Trapanovski (Paton 64), Dalby
Subs Not Used: Richards, Cleall-Harding, Fotheringham, Babunski, Fiorini, Van der Sande
Referee: Steven McLean
Assistant Referee: Alastair Mather
Assistant Referee: Andy Milne
Fourth Official: Greg Soutar
VAR: Andrew Dallas
Attendance: 9,821
