Mikael Mandron at the double as third-placed St Mirren hammer St Johnstone

By Sports Desk October 28, 2023

St Mirren strengthened their grip on third place in the Premiership table with a 4-0 home victory over St Johnstone, who remain winless.

Keanu Baccus’ stunning strike broke the deadlock before Mikael Mandron added two more after the interval and Greg Kiltie added a late fourth to draw the Paisley club level on points with second-placed Rangers.

St Johnstone played well in spells in the first half but now find themselves five points adrift at the foot of the table.

St Mirren made two changes from the team beaten by Rangers in their previous outing. In came Ryan Flynn for the suspended Ryan Strain, with Mandron replacing Toyosi Olusanya.

St Johnstone, in turn, made three changes following the goalless draw with Aberdeen. Out went Drey Wright, Graham Carey and Luke Jephcott, replaced by Diallang Jaiyesimi, James Brown and Nicky Clark.

Clark, making his first appearance of the season, had the first chance of the game but saw his free-kick attempt blocked for a corner.

The striker was next to threaten with a shot from distance that again was redirected for a corner before Dara Costelloe lashed an effort well off-target.

The home team had created nothing as an attacking force only to then score with their first shot of the match after 36 minutes.

There was plenty for Baccus to do when the ball was played to him just outside the box by Kiltie but his shot had both the power and precision to beat Dimitar Mitov in the St Johnstone goal.

The Australia international tried to repeat the trick minutes later but, from just inside the area this time, fired his attempt well over the bar.

St Mirren went on the attack at the start of second half but Mandron’s header from Scott Tanser’s free-kick lacked the power to beat the goalkeeper.

The striker would not be denied moments later when he pounced on a poor attempt from Brown to usher the ball back to his goalkeeper only for Mandron to nick in to fire a shot beyond Mitov.

St Johnstone kept trying to get a foothold back in the contest and Jay Turner-Cooke fired in a shot that Zach Hemming did well to pull out of the air.

A third goal after 71 minutes, however, killed their prospects. Mandron sent substitute Olusanya haring down the left wing and he weighted his pass perfectly for Mandron to thread his shot beyond Mitov.

Kiltie grabbed the fourth in the final minute, tapping in at the back post after Olusanya had helped on Mark O’Hara’s cross.

Related items

  • Bayern Munich 2-0 Wolfsburg: Zvonarek scores on first start Bayern Munich 2-0 Wolfsburg: Zvonarek scores on first start

    Second-placed Bayern Munich beat Wolfsburg 2-0 with teenager Lovro Zvonarek scoring on his first start in their final Bundesliga home game of the season on Sunday as they eased towards the end of a trophy-less campaign.

    Four days after Bayern's Champions League semi-final exit to Real Madrid confirmed their first season without any silverware in more than a decade, the Bavarians put in a solid performance against the Wolves despite a string of changes to Thomas Tuchel's team.

    Zvonarek, the 19-year-old Croatian who had only made a handful of substitute appearances for the team, scored four minutes into his first start, drilling home for the lead.

    Leon Goretzka doubled the advantage nine minutes later with the hosts quickly taking full control of the game.

    Bayern have 72 points, two ahead of third-placed Stuttgart with one game remaining. Unbeaten champions Bayer Leverkusen, on 84, visit Bochum later on Sunday.

    Data Debrief: Clean sheet for Neuer on landmark outing

    Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer made his 500th Bundesliga appearance, 156 of those having come for Schalke and 344 for his current side.

    The veteran stopper had two saves to make en route to becoming the fourth goalkeeper in Bundesliga history to reach that 500 mark, after Oliver Kahn (557), Eike Immel (534) and Uli Stein (512).

  • Manchester United 0-1 Arsenal: Gunners keep title pressure on Man City with Old Trafford triumph Manchester United 0-1 Arsenal: Gunners keep title pressure on Man City with Old Trafford triumph

    Arsenal regained top spot from Manchester City heading into the final week of the Premier League season with a 1-0 win at Manchester United on Sunday.

    Leandro Trossard scored the decisive goal at Old Trafford with 20 minutes on the clock as Kai Havertz profited from an intercepted Andre Onana pass to tee up the Belgian's simple finish.

    The Gunners move one point clear of City, who thrashed Fulham 4-0 on Saturday and still have a game in hand at Arsenal's fierce rivals Tottenham on Tuesday, meaning the title remains in the hands of Pep Guardiola's side.

    City then host West Ham on the final day, while Arsenal are at home to Everton.

    United, beaten 4-0 by Crystal Palace on Monday and now with just one win in their last eight in the competition, stay eighth in the table and are three points off Chelsea and Newcastle United directly above them with a game to go.

    Arsenal did not have any true sights of goal in an evenly contested opening, with United looking more coherent than in recent weeks, until the visitors' breakthrough arrived through Trossard.

    Onana's pass was cut out on the halfway line and played to Havertz, who was kept onside by Casemiro failing to get up the pitch, and the German squared for Trossard to convert from point-blank range.

    The Gunners, who failed to win on the two other previous occasions they had led at half-time at Old Trafford, were happy to sit back after the restart and invite United onto them.

    Casemiro was invited to shoot from distance and did just that, forcing a save from David Raya, who then denied Antony's poor attempt from a similar position.

    But there was to be no way through for United, who had Onana to thank for late saves to deny Gabriel Martinelli and Declan Rice, as the visitors completed a league double in this fixture for the first time since 2006-07. 

    United continue to concede

    Trossard's goal, which came despite United having four players back in a position to intercept Havertz's pass, makes it 82 goals conceded for the Red Devils across all competitions this season – the most they have shipped in a single season since 1970-71 (also 82).

    Erik ten Hag's men were ultimately unable to hit back and have therefore now suffered 19 losses across all competitions this term, which is their most since 1977-78 (also 19).

    This is also just the third time in Premier League history they have lost at home to three sides from the capital in a single season, having previously fallen to Crystal Palace and Fulham.

    Havertz and Trossard stepping up

    Trossard has more than played his part in Arsenal's title pursuit, with this his 12th league goal of the season. Three of his last four have put the Gunners 1-0 up, showing just how important he has been.

    That crucial breakthrough goal was assisted by Havertz, who has scored and assisted a combined 14 goals in the Premier League since the start of 2024 – already surpassing his previous highest tally in a single year in the competition with Chelsea in 2022 (13).

    Indeed, only Chelsea's Cole Palmer with 19 can boast more direct goal involvements than the Germany international this calendar year among all Premier League players.

  • Manchester United Women 4-0 Tottenham Women: Garcia double secures Red Devils' first FA Cup triumph Manchester United Women 4-0 Tottenham Women: Garcia double secures Red Devils' first FA Cup triumph

    Manchester United Women banished last year's FA Cup demons to lift the trophy for the first time in their history after smashing Tottenham Women 4-0 at Wembley Stadium.

    United suffered a 1-0 defeat to Chelsea Women in the final of this competition last term but exacted revenge after Lucia Garcia scored twice in a comfortable win on Sunday.

    Ella Toone's eye-catching strike in the first half set the tone before a goal for Rachel Williams and Garcia's double added gloss to a convincing scoreline, despite Beth England hitting the crossbar for Spurs.

    Marc Skinner's side dominated the opening half as Millie Turner saw a header cleared off the line by Martha Thomas, while Williams headed over.

    However, there was no stopping Toone on the stroke of half-time as she exchanged passes with Lisa Naalsund before arrowing a rocketed right-footed finish into the top corner from the edge of the area.

    Further punishment followed for an underwhelming Tottenham after the interval when Williams headed down from Katie Zelem's free-kick to double United's lead in the 54th minute.

    Goalkeeper Becky Spencer then handed Skinner's team more joy just three minutes later, mindlessly playing straight to Garcia, who slotted into an empty net.

    Garcia capped the scoring after 74 minutes, receiving an offload from Turner before curling a delightful finish past the powerless Spencer as United secured their first major trophy in club history.

    Data Debrief: United ease pain of last year

    United fell short last year against Chelsea but continued their impressive record against Spurs here, extending to 13 games unbeaten against Tottenham since being founded in 2018.

    This defeat will remain painful for Spurs in their first FA Cup final appearance, also ending a seven-game undefeated streak since losing to rivals Arsenal at the start of March.

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.