Aberdeen 1-1 St Johnstone: Leighton Clarkson scores but Aberdeen winless run extends to five matches

Report as Aberdeen and St Johnstone play out a 1-1 Premiership draw at Pittodrie; Makenzie Kirk gave St Johnstone a first-half lead, before Leighton Clarkson levelled for the home side 10 minutes after the break

Saturday 7 December 2024 20:40, UK

Aberdeen made it five games without a win after a frustrating 1-1 draw with St Johnstone at sodden Pittodrie.

Still sitting second in the William Hill Premiership, the Dons were looking to bounce back from a testing run but fell behind to Makenzie Kirk's simple finish, before Leighton Clarkson levelled 10 minutes after the break.

Aberdeen showed three changes from the side that was narrowly defeated by Celtic in midweek with Nicky Devlin, Topi Keskinen and Duk all demoted to the bench.

Saints made a similar number of changes after their defeat to Rangers last weekend, though one of those was a late change after defender Bozo Mikulic pulled up in the warm-up.

The Dons started on the front foot but for all their possession they struggled to create clear-cut chances, though when Jack Milne burst forward just after the quarter-hour to build a counter, Kevin Nisbet found himself unlucky to be crowded out.

St Johnstone had offered little but did look to pose a problem on the break, and after 25 minutes they took the lead in bizarre circumstances.

Aberdeen left-back Jimmy McGarry found himself in the centre-half position and in trying to cut out a Nicky Clark cross, managed to kick the ball off his own face, leaving Kirk with a simple finish past Ross Doohan.

Kirk could have added a second as he outpaced the Dons defence chasing a long ball, but Gavin Molloy recovered well to avert the danger.

With Josh Rae still untested in the Saints goal, the visitors survived a scare late in the first half as a Clarkson free-kick just evaded Sivert Heltne Nilsen in front of goal, and Slobodan Rubezic was unable to head back across the face.

Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin was clearly unhappy with his side's performance and made three changes at the break, with an immediate impact.

Duk was one of the three entering the action and within 10 minutes he had set up the equaliser, getting to the byline before pulling back for Clarkson to stroke home from six yards.

The Dons looked more direct now, and with Duk stretching the play, they seemed better able to find pockets of space around the box.

A Milne cross almost caught out Rae as it nearly dropped in at the near post, and the goalkeeper had to be alert again to push away Clarkson's neat curling effort.

With 15 minutes left, Doohan got down smartly to deny Kyle Cameron as the defender seized on a loose ball to volley goalwards.

Aberdeen threw on Keskinen and Vicente Besuijen as they searched for a second goal, but the visitors defended stoutly to hold on for a well-earned point.

What the managers said...

Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin: "I think that our performance was not our best we have had this season. There wasn't the energy or intensity we want to play with.

"Our support have been amazing for far this season but today I can understand some frustration - in football that is normal, sometimes when you have high expectations.

"We have to stick together, to try to push our limits and be better every week we train and play. The game against Celtic was really good energy and we didn't find a way to show the same energy today."

St Johnstone boss Simo Valakari: "We played extremely well. The only thing we have been concentrating on is we compete and perform and try to play as well as possible - the results will come.

"Are we disappointed to only take one point? Maybe. But we always respect the result, and I'm so pleased with the performance of our players - how they played with and without the ball against a top side.

"We looked solid and we defended ugly in some moments. There were some moments where we played good football too.

"The performance gives a platform from which results will come, so I'm very pleased."