Saints defeated by Aberdeen at Pittodrie

St Mirren were beaten on the road in the William Hill Premiership after losing 3-1 to Aberdeen on a frustrating afternoon at Pittodrie.

Looking to arrest a run of four league defeats in a row, manager Craig McLeish made three changes to the side that lost to Hearts last weekend with Marcus Fraser, Luke Thomas and Eseosa Sule coming in for Henry Fieldson, Fraser Taylor and Chris Mochrie.

Saints fell behind with just two minutes on the clock. Brad Lyons was afforded too much time and space to drive forward before curling a stunning effort into the top right corner from 25 yards.

The Buddies dominated possession for the next 15 minutes or so and should have been level on 16 minutes. A nice bit of play down the left saw Sule feed the ball to Declan John whose low cross picked out Killian Phillips. His low side-footed shot was saved by the feet of Marius Muller before his follow-up attempt was blocked by Mats Knoester. Moments later, Calvin Ramsay fizzed a dangerous low ball across the face with no takers for Saints.

Muller was forced into another big save with 10 minutes of the half remaining. This time the Dons stopper denied Thomas who came in off the right and fired towards the far corner, only to see his strike pushed away.

Saints deservedly drew level on 42 minutes when Sule netted his first league goal for the Buddies. Thomas played in Phillips on the right and the Irishman's low pass found Sule who smashed into the net. It was no more than we deserved as the game went into the half-time break even.

Aberdeen manager Stephen Robinson responded to his side's first-half showing by making a double substitution at the break. That saw the introduction of Stuart Armstrong and Tony Yogane for Lyons and Conor Ronan. Yogane was presented with a big opportunity to put the hosts ahead for a second time on 50 minutes when he was found unmarked by Chris Cadden in the middle of the Saints box. The winger took it first time and sent his effort over. Armstrong then had the ball in the net for Aberdeen on 53 minutes, but saw it ruled out for offside.

The hosts took the lead for a second time after being awarded a penalty kick after a VAR check. Paul Nsio was penalised for a foul on Yogane and referee John Beaton initially awarded a free-kick before it was found to have taken place inside the box. Jacob Chapman saved Kevin Nisbet's attempt, but the Dons captain netted the rebound.

Saints made their first substitution of the game on 59 minutes with Samuel Ramos coming on in place of Thomas. A second change came eight minutes later when Fraser Taylor replaced Nsio.

The home side added a third with a little over 20 minutes remaining. Afeez Aremu took a quick free-kick and found substitute Ayoub Mouloua who shifted onto his right foot before sliding low into the far corner.

Chapman was called upon to keep the final scoreline from getting worse on 81 minutes. The goalkeeper was out quickly to close down Nisbet and deny the striker his second and Aberdeen a fourth.

Full-Time: Aberdeen 3-1 St Mirren

Attendance: 17,020