Aberdeen celebrateImage source, SNS

At a glance

  • Aberdeen end three-game home goal drought

  • Lyons stunner opens lead but Sule levels for impressive visitors

  • Nisbet & Mouloua goals earn victory for hosts

Watch Aberdeen v St Mirren highlights

17/10/26

ByAndy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland at Pittodrie

Aberdeen ended their recent home goal drought to overcome St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership and ease some of the disquiet surrounding manager Stephen Robinson.

Having previously endured three straight home games without seeing their team find the net, the Pittodrie fans were celebrating inside two minutes when Brad Lyons curled a wonderful strike from 25 yards in off the underside bar.

The goal did little to inspire Aberdeen as St Mirren took firm control, dominating the ball and creating numerous chances, with the Dons indebted to goalkeeper Marius Muller for a number of sharp saves to preserve their lead.

There was nothing the German keeper could do as the visitors grabbed a deserved equaliser just before half-time. Luke Thomas fed Killian Phillips, and he teed up Eseosa Sule to sweep home from 12 yards.

Aberdeen had the ball in the net early in the second period, but substitute Stuart Armstrong's effort was ruled out for offside.

Robinson's side got themselves back in front when Paul Nsio was adjudged - following a VAR review - to have caught Tony Yogane right on the edge of the box. Nisbet's spot-kick was saved by Jacob Chapman, but the striker followed it in to fire home the rebound.

Substitute Ayoub Mouloua made the points safe with a smart finish just moments after coming on to ensure Aberdeen banked a valuable three points.

Graphic

Aberdeen analysis: Robinson's side find way

Robinson shook things up in terms of formation and personnel after the lacklustre defeat by St Johnstone last Sunday, switching from a back five to a four and bringing in Toyosi Olunsanya to offer support to Nisbet up top.

Lyons' wonder strike early on should have injected some confidence into a struggling side, but instead Aberdeen completely ceded the ball in the first half as St Mirren for large spells knocked it around them with ease.

Robinson reacted by making a double switch at half-time - with Lyons' stunning goal not sparing him from the hook – and Aberden starting getting into St Mirren faces and forcing errors for the home side to exploit.

Having been so toothless in the final third last weekend, they were far more ruthless in taking their chances, not least with Mouloua's superbly taken goal just moments after coming off the bench.

It was not always pretty to watch, but Aberdeen found a way and the win is what Robinson needed.

St Mirren analysis: Failure to make dominance count costly

After the blow of conceding so early, St Mirren bossed this game in the first half and the 1-1 half-time score flattered the home side.

The slick passing was a joy to watch as they pulled Aberdeen apart time and again, and a failure to make that dominance pay ultimately came back to bite the Buddies.

The fragile confidence of the team was perhaps exposed. After Nisbet put Aberdeen back in front at 2-1, that bravery on the ball that was so evident in the first half disappeared, replaced by errors and uncertainty.

Craig McLeish will have seen enough in his team's first-half display to take some positives, but he will know he must put an end to this five-match losing league run sooner rather than later.

What they said

Figure caption,

Robinson on 'belief' after victory over St Mirren

Aberdeen manager Stephen Robinson: "We had to dig deep for it. We started really well with a great goal and then we sat back and were way too cautious and played with little bit of fear. Credit to St Mirren, they played some really good stuff.

"In the second half we were very, very good. Showed real bravery and we could have had more goals as well. We had numerous chances when we were through on goal and didn't take them."

St Mirren manager Craig McLeish: "I feel like we beat ourselves. Aberdeen take their chances, but a minute into the game and we're a goal down. Conceding goals at the start again and giving ourselves a mountain to climb.

"We were excellent first half after that and should probably score at least another one. But our response to going down early was excellent.

"We knew they would get a blast at half time and change a couple of things. The first 15 minutes of the second half we didn't stand up to their change in intensity and agression."

Player of the match

Number: 9 A. Mouloua
Average rating 8.25
Number: 9 A. Mouloua
Average Rating: 8.25
Number: 27 M. Müller
Average Rating: 7.65
Number: 5 M. Knoester
Average Rating: 7.18
Number: 17 S. Armstrong
Average Rating: 6.94
Number: 23 L. Mayo
Average Rating: 6.06
Number: 32 A. Aremu
Average Rating: 6.00
Number: 15 K. Nisbet
Average Rating: 5.94
Number: 24 N. Guinness-Walker
Average Rating: 5.83
Number: 77 E. Gyamfi
Average Rating: 5.75
Number: 40 F. Marshall
Average Rating: 5.65
Number: 7 T. Yogane
Average Rating: 5.56
Number: 8 B. Lyons
Average Rating: 5.53
Number: 28 C. Cadden
Average Rating: 5.41
Number: 20 T. Olusanya
Average Rating: 5.41
Number: 25 C. Ronan
Average Rating: 5.00
Number: 11 L. Smith
Average Rating: 4.82

After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.

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