Watch best of action as St Mirren beat St Johnstone

Cam Wanstall
BBC Sport Scotland

St Mirren came from behind against St Johnstone to end their four-game losing run in the Scottish Premiership and earn a much-needed victory.

In-form forward Benjamin Kimpioka flicked the visitors in front within 10 minutes when he helped on Jack Sanders' header past an outstretched Ross Sinclair.

A sublime strike from Scott Tanser, curling the ball into the top corner from the edge of the area after being picked out by Marcus Fraser, on the half-hour mark brought the hosts level.

And Fraser provided once more as St Mirren captain Mark O’Hara met the full-back’s floated cross to head his side in front, before Jonah Ayunga netted off the bench to seal the home victory.

Celebrations for Kimpioka’s opener were delayed by a lengthy VAR check after the goal was initially ruled offside, with technology involved again to deny the striker on 19 minutes.

The Swede seemed to have drilled in a second but defender Kyle Cameron, who nodded the ball into Kimpioka’s path, was ruled offside.

St Mirren took control of proceedings after Tanser’s stunning equaliser. A powerful Fraser header was parried clear before Toyosi Olusanya blazed wide.

O’Hara’s deflected goal, which followed a flurry of St Mirren chances following the interval, earned the hosts a deserved lead.

Ayunga then netted for the first time since December last year after Mikael Mandron’s lobbed pass allowed him to bear down on goal and tidily finish past Sinclair to secure the home side’s win in stoppage-time.

The home victory sees St Mirren rise three places to seventh in the Premiership table, while St Johnstone drop to ninth.

St Mirren ruthlessness ends winless slump

Stephen Robinson’s men were limited to just 31.4% possession, but took more than three times as many shots as their opposition.

Despite going behind early on, St Mirren continued with their game plan and found themselves on level terms heading into the break.

The home side picked up the intensity in the second 45 and it showed. A barrage of shots peppered Sinclair’s goal and Robinson must be credited for his approach.

While St Johnstone dominated possession and racked up passes, the St Mirren boss brought on two strikers - who would both combine for the third goal - in a successful attempt to keep threatening the Perth club’s goal.

St Johnstone fail to capitalise on possession

New manager Simo Valakari said pre-match that his St Johnstone side were still searching to find their own identity.

If this defeat is anything to go by, they may look to dominate possession in the short-term in their first attempt to find their way.

The visitors maintained more tha two-thirds of possession and made 567 passes. Their average passes per game so far this season? 394.6.

It was certainly a positive performance for St Johnstone, as the game was lost in a 15-minute spell following the break.

Otherwise, they showed glimpses of great attacking threat - especially through Kimpioka, who, alongside Adama Sidibeh, had a goal ruled out.

What they said

Stephen Robinson reacts to St Mirren's win over St Johnstone

St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson: "When you are not winning games, you’ll take anything. We should’ve won by more. We dominated.

"We’re playing less around at the back and playing exciting, penetrating football. People running until they can’t run anymore. We got away from that but we won’t get away from that again."

St Johnstone head coach Simo Valakari: "Tough one, tough result. There were too many moments we could not handle the opponent. Especially at the start of the second half, the pressure was just too much.

"We knew there would be moments where we need to suffer. And we did suffer, but when we got a little bit high up the field, we lose the ball and, boom, it came back quickly."

Related topics