Livingston 1-1 St Mirren: St Mirren salvage late point to go top of the table
- Published
Luiyi de Lucas' first ever Livingston goal looked destined to be the winner - until Nahmani's late header
St Mirren moved to the top of the Scottish Premiership table with a dramatic late draw with Livingston in West Lothian.
In a game devoid of quality chances, it looked like the hosts had missed their best chance to take victory when Bruce Anderson's second-half goal was ruled out for offside.
But Luiyi De Lucas' late tap-in, following Mohammed Sangare's cut-back, looked like consigning stuttering St Mirren to defeat for the first time this season.
That all changed though when Stav Nahmani's 95th-minute equaliser gave both sides a share of the points.
The Buddies move a point ahead of Celtic and Motherwell before their games tomorrow, while Livingston sit seventh.
The fact both sides remained unchanged suggested both managers were more than happy with their line-ups after strong showings last weekend.
But up until the final few moments David Martindale and Stephen Robinson cut frustrated figures on the touchline as their charges failed to take control of a scrappy game.
There was very little rhythm to a stop-start match, which threatened to be overshadowed by a nasty-looking head injury to Andrew Shinnie. Thankfully, the Livi midfielder appeared at half-time to give a thumbs up to a nervous crowd.
As the game entered stoppage-time it appeared De Lucas' first-ever Livingston goal would be the winner in a match in which neither side had truly done enough to merit victory. The Dominican Republic international showed predatory instincts to arrive at the front post and knock in Sangare's cut-back.
But this St Mirren team refuses to give in and when Ryan Strain clipped a cross to the back post, Alex Gogic knocked it back in and Nahmani ghosted in to nod past a helpless Shamal George.
Player of the Match - Jamie Brandon (Livingston)
Charging up and down the right, it was an all-action performance from the wing-back.
Dreadful game, dramatic end - analysis
Both sides were "lucky to have nil" at half-time, according to BBC pundit Stephen Craigan.
That might have been a little harsh, but there was only one chance in that half that might make the Sportscene highlights - a header from Greg Kiltie that George did well to save.
Perhaps this was simply a case of two evenly-matched teams cancelling each other out, and the sticky, dry plastic pitch didn't help matters either.
As a result, both sides repeatedly lofted the ball skyward, and both goals came from lumps into the box from free-kicks.
Ultimately, this was more a show of character than football, and two tough-to-beat teams couldn't be beaten.
What they said
Livingston boss David Martindale: "Fair play to St Mirren. They put us under pressure after we scored and we have to deal with the ball into our box better. We take it on the chin.
"I felt for the boys a little. I felt over the piece we deserved a wee bit more from the game. I felt we had better chances, better entries into the opponent's box. We have to do better ourselves in terms of execution when we do get in there. We were a bit unlucky to come away from a point.
St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson: "We weren't at our fluent best, no doubt. Livi make it very difficult. That's a credit, not a criticism. Taking a point here is a good point and keeps our run going. It shows our character. When you aren't at your top, can you get something out of it? We did today.
"It was a game of no chances. Not many shots on target, Zach [Hemming] had one save. There wasn't a lot between the sides and a draw is a fair result. We didn't deserve to win, we weren't on top of our game, but these boys never fail to surprise me.
What's next?
Livingston visit Ross County on Saturday, 16 September, while St Mirren face the shorter trip to Motherwell on the same day (both 15:00 BST).