Dundee United missed the opportunity to secure a European spot for next season as in-form St Mirren kept their own hopes alive with a Scottish Premiership victory at Tannadice.

Stephen Robinson's side moved within two points of the Tangerines in fifth thanks to goals from Mikael Mandron and Jonah Ayunga.

Both sides carved out opportunities in the first 45 minutes but it was Mandron who broke the deadlock on the half hour, drilling into the bottom corner after a well-worked move involving Killian Phillips, Ayunga and Ryan Alebiosu.

After ending the half a goal down, the hosts started the second period on the front foot and Sam Dalby had an early chance when he latched on to a loose ball on the edge of the St Mirren box but the striker fired wide.

And poor defending cost United as Ayunga doubled the deficit. Roland Idowu threaded the ball through for the forward, who picked up in acres of space and danced his way into the box before firing beyond Jack Walton.

"We just need to keep performing. The performance was very, very good and some of the football was outstanding, so we'll just keep doing that and see where it takes us," said St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson.

"We've got a squad that don't know when they're beaten. They get through hard times together.

"I believe it's the highest points tally in modern history in the Premiership [for St Mirren] and the players deserve all the credit for that."

Had United won, they would have been guaranteed at least a fifth-place Premiership finish and European football.

But poor defending, coupled with a lack of cutting edge at the top end of the pitch, consigned them to another post-split defeat.

Ayunga was able to pick up the ball in space inside United's penalty area under little pressure to help the Buddies on their way to their first goal, and the winger was left in acres of space when he grabbed St Mirren's second.

In fact, Ayunga had the ball in the net for a third goal for the visitors but he was marginally offside in the build-up.

United's top scorer Dalby had numerous chances, particularly in the second half, but couldn't direct any of them on target.

As a result, Jim Goodwin's side have set themselves up for a fight to secure European football in their final two games.

That's now four Premiership games unbeaten for Stephen Robinson's side, who are making things difficult for the other teams in the top six and forging their own path in a bid to sneak a European spot.

The front two of Mandron and Ayunga caused so many problems for United's backline while the defensive strength of Richard Taylor and Alex Gogic made it a relatively comfortable afternoon for Zach Hemming between the sticks.

Besides a brief spell at the start of the second half where United carved out some good opportunities, the Buddies never really looked troubled at the back.

The victory leaves them two points adrift of fifth place with two games to play, but with a visit from Hibs and a trip to Celtic to come, it's certainly not going to be easy.

Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin: "We have no complaints about the end result, I thought St Mirren were the better team on the day.

"In these games over the season the first goal has always been vitally important and unfortunately St Mirren got that."

St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson: "We made harder work of it than we probably needed to. Some of the football and the chances that we missed, if we'd had the final product, it could have been four or five."