St Johnstone manager Craig Levein admitted he had ditched a plan to take debutant David Keltjens off before the Israel international netted a late equaliser against Aberdeen.
Saints appeared to be heading towards a hard-luck story after Bojan Miovski’s penalty put the Dons ahead but debutant Keltjens headed home in the 78th minute to seal a 1-1 draw.
The 28-year-old January signing had been without a club since last season and Levein planned to remove him after an hour after starting him at wing-back.
“That was our intention but he was doing so well that I didn’t see any reason to take him off,” the saints boss said.
“David was excellent. He has hardly played any football at all for a long time and that was one of the considerations when we signed him. But he has played six times for Israel and he is a good age.
“It was just about whether he was capable of performing at the levels that we require and he more than did. He was steady, reliable and tough. To get the goal was the icing on the cake.”
Liam Gordon was twice on the end of VAR decisions – a disallowed goal and a penalty – which were far from clear and obvious to anyone inside McDiarmid Park, including Levein.
The Saints skipper was penalised for catching Jamie McGrath after the midfielder cleared only as far as Graham Carey, whose volley had squeezed inside the near post of Kelle Roos.
The defender was then ruled to have fouled Slobodan Rubezic following a Dons corner and referee John Beaton pointed to the spot after being called to his monitor for a second time by Steven Kirkland.
Levein, who felt his side deserved “at least a point”, said: “I haven’t seen any of the incidents. The boys said Gordy caught somebody for their penalty so that was fair enough. I don’t know what happened with their disallowed goal. I will wait and see.
“It was a bit of a palaver to be honest. It does seem there is a lot of time taken to make decisions and if every decision was correct then I would be happy for them to spend as much time as they want.
“But when you have human beings involved, there is always a chance there is going to be errors. I’m not saying there was tonight because I don’t know.”
Aberdeen missed the chance to move into the cinch Premiership top six and manager Barry Robson felt his side paid the price for poor game management.
“It was disappointing, when you are 1-0 up with 15 minutes to go, you are hoping to go on and win the game,” said Robson, who lost Rubezic late on to a knee injury which will require a scan.
“When the opposition is coming at you and they will come at you, you have to be calm and use your experience. You get your distances right, stop crosses coming into the box and when the ball does come in the box, you win your headers.
“We never did that well enough in the last 15 minutes.”
Allegri says Juventus future will become clear in next two weeks
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said questions regarding his future will be resolved in the next couple of weeks after the Bianconeri's slump continued with Sunday's 1-1 draw with Salernitana.
Juve looked set for a humiliating Serie A loss at home to Stefano Colantuono's already-relegated side, only for Adrien Rabiot to equalise in stoppage time.
It was a fifth straight league draw for Allegri's side, who have slipped to fourth in Serie A, seven points behind second-placed Milan and level with Bologna in third.
Juve were neck-and-neck with recently crowned Scudetto winners Inter at the turn of the year, and their dismal end to the season has seen Allegri's position called into question.
Asked about his future on Sunday, Allegri said: "Just be patient a little bit longer, in 10 to 15 days you'll know what will happen next year.
"Anyone who has played football knows that even the great teams can experience a moment of difficulty when the games become tough. We will certainly have to grow."
Wednesday's Coppa Italia final against in-form Atalanta presents an opportunity for redemption.
"The final against a team like Atalanta that has grown a lot will certainly be balanced," Allegri said. "It's a one-off game and we will have to try to make as few mistakes as possible.
Regarding Sunday's match, the 56-year-old said the performance was not satisfactory but stressed the importance of avoiding defeat.
"We started reasonably well, then made a mistake in our decision-making. We became disjointed and we didn't hold our positions," he said.
"You can't lose a match like that, otherwise you risk never picking yourselves back up again."
Atalanta not favourites for Coppa Italia final against Juventus, insists Gasperini
Atalanta do not consider themselves favourites for Wednesday's Coppa Italia final against Juventus despite their strong form, says coach Gian Piero Gasperini.
Atalanta have enjoyed a fantastic season, reaching the Europa League final – where they will face unbeaten Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen on May 22 – and the Coppa Italia showpiece.
La Dea are also in the driving seat to secure Italy's fifth Champions League place for next season, after Sunday's 2-1 home win over Roma took them three points clear of the Giallorossi with a game in hand.
On Wednesday, an out-of-form Juve side await Atalanta at the Stadio Olimpico, as Gasperini seeks his first trophy with the club he joined back in 2016.
"I think it's a bit much to suggest we'd be favourites against Juve. We are in good form, but it's difficult to tell playing every three days," Gasperini told DAZN on Sunday.
"Naturally, we go into this Coppa Italia final with great enthusiasm."
Atalanta's Milan loanee Charles De Ketelaere produced another fine performance against Roma, scoring twice inside 20 minutes.
With 13 goals and nine assists, he is one of three Atalanta players to record 22 goal involvements in all competitions this season, alongside Gianluca Scamacca (17 goals, five assists) and Teun Koopmeiners (15 goals, seven assists).
Manchester City and Leverkusen (four apiece) are the only teams in Europe's top five leagues with more players with at least 22 direct goal involvements.
"Everyone knew he could play, or Milan would not have made an investment like that. He deserves the credit, he was going all over the place, right, left and centre tonight," Gasperini said of De Ketelaere.
Lorenzo Pellegrini reduced the deficit for the visitors with a penalty after 66 minutes, but overall Atalanta were dominant.
While Gasperini was happy with the win, he did not enjoy the wastefulness of his side.
"I don't know if we've learned a lesson, other than we had so many scoring opportunities and did not aim properly, otherwise we would have killed it off a lot earlier," he said.
"Failing to win this match really would have caused us a lot of problems."
'Not a good sign' – Keane unimpressed by Man Utd's injured absentees
Roy Keane was left questioning the attitudes of Manchester United's players as the Red Devils were once again without numerous key players for Sunday's loss to Arsenal.
Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford and Lisandro Martinez were among the notable names to miss out for the 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford, as Erik ten Hag bemoaned continued injury issues.
Martinez and Harry Maguire's absence ensured Ten Hag had to field Jonny Evans and makeshift centre-back partner Casemiro in defence, with the latter at fault for Leandro Trossard's winning goal.
Wayne Rooney vocalised his concerns over the application of United's players and Keane, speaking on Sky Sports, echoed his thoughts as he questioned the prolonged absence of some.
"Obviously, that's not a good sign," Keane said of players not returning from injury. "You'd hope players who are carrying injuries are desperate to get back playing again.
"There is always a worry, there are always players at every club that can drag their heels with an injury.
"Generally, players I played with when they were given a period they'd be injured for, they were always trying to knock a week off it and get back playing for Manchester United or whatever club they're at."
Without a host of key players, United have conceded in 10 successive games in all competitions for the first time since October 2021.
The Red Devils' 82 goals they have conceded this season is their most since 1970-71 (also 82), too, as United continue to disappoint in the 2023-23 campaign.
United have also lost 19 games in all competitions this season, their most since 1977-78 (also 19), while their nine defeats at Old Trafford this term are their joint-most at home in a single campaign.
Keane says the concerns over players not racing back to fitness is not unusual, though it does little to aid Ten Hag's plight.
"It's always a worry but I have to say, it goes on at lots of football clubs," the United great said.
"There are lots of players out there when they have an injury, they're not in the hurry to get back in the team. I think that's obvious and happens at lots of football clubs."
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