Derek McInnes hailed two “brilliant” goals which saw Kilmarnock move into fourth place in the cinch Premiership with a 2-1 win over St Johnstone at Rugby Park.
Killie sprang out of the traps despite swirling wind and rain and 18-year-old midfielder David Watson hammered in a long-distance drive in the sixth minute before veteran striker Marley Watkins added a second in the 17th minute to have the home side in command.
Kilmarnock should have added to their lead in the first half before Craig Levein’s side regrouped and Saints substitute Nicky Clark, back fit again, reduced the deficit on the hour mark.
But Killie held on as they stretched their unbeaten run to four games and moved a point ahead of St Mirren, whom they play in Paisley on Wednesday.
Boss McInnes said: “I thought we were terrific in that opening 30 minutes or so. We were aware of the conditions in the warm-up with the wind swirling, but we asked the players to take real responsibility to try and get the ball down and play around St Johnstone’s shape.
“We wanted to make sure we played around that, get good service from the wider areas and try to play forward from there either down the sides of their centre-halves or into our strikers’ feet. I thought we did all that really well.
“Ultimately, you still need big moments and two brilliant goals from our point of view.
“Top-class from Watson. He sorts his feet out well. Danny (Armstrong) takes a great first touch to step in the pitch and plays a little reverse ball into Davie.
“It’s in a tight area, but he sorts his feet out and a brilliant strike and Marley’s goal was as good a striker’s goal as you’ll see.
“I think he toe-pokes it in. It’s an absolutely brilliant finish, so two brilliant goals and we passed up two or three real opportunities after that and it was a real dominant performance.
“But it’s the Premiership. St Johnstone changed their shape towards the end of the first half, had a couple of moments.
“We didn’t have the same dominance and spoke at half-time about the need to go and score the next goal.
“I’m disappointed and angry with the goal we lost from the set-play. I think it’s all a bit too easy and too simplistic.
“I’m not convinced it was a foul, but they are able to put the ball in the box and we have to be stronger. Our line was good in terms of where we should be, we just have to stop Nicky Clark getting through it.
“Clark is good in the air, he’ll thrive off good service and that’s exactly what happened.”
Levein was “mystified” by his side’s start to the game.
The former Scotland boss said: “That was a strange game. I don’t know what happened.
“We’ve not started any games since I’ve been here in that manner.
“I also have to say as much as we were off it, Killie started really well.
“We were two down and they missed a chance to go to three before we even turned up.
“Then when we turned up I was happy. I thought we ended the first half well and then I thought we had more dominance and I was pleased with the performance.
“We snookered ourselves by giving away two goals early on.
“I was just trying to work out what the hell had happened. It’s much easier looking back and I’ll pore over the footage.
“I don’t know if going two behind actually took the pressure off and we then thought maybe we’ll start playing football now.
“Once we started doing that it was harder for Killie to get dominance and their chances started to dry up.”
De Bruyne: Man City know title race 'is not over'
Kevin De Bruyne insists the Manchester City players know the Premier League title race is not over, despite being in the driving seat with just one game left.
The Citizens beat Tottenham 2-0 on Tuesday in their game in hand over leaders Arsenal, leapfrogging them to the top of the table.
City will host West Ham on the final weekend and as long as Pep Guardiola’s side match Arsenal’s result against Everton, they will win an unprecedented fourth consecutive Premier League title.
De Bruyne has played down suggestions that City celebrated like they had already won the title following the victory.
"We were happy, obviously, because it gets in the place that we wanted to be on Sunday," he told Sky Sports. "I didn't feel like there were any extra celebrations.
"Obviously, you're happy to win the game, but we know it's not done yet.
"I know everybody's talking now saying it should be easy, but we're used to playing these couple of games against Brighton and Villa before and it's never easy. There's always the pressure of being in that situation, so I think it's quite normal."
City’s win over Tottenham makes them big favourites to win the title, with the Opta supercomputer giving them an 84.3 per cent chance of lifting the Premier League trophy once more.
During their victory at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, sections of the crowd cheered Erling Haaland’s opener by doing the Poznan, a celebration often used by the City fans, as the result shifted the title race out of their North London rivals' favour.
Asked if he had ever played in an environment like that before, De Bruyne added: "I think it's strange, but I didn't feel it from a players perspective.
"I have to say I thought Tottenham were really good, I think they played better than they did the weeks before.
"Fans are always a different thing, but I feel it's more feeding from outside, I never thought that from the players' or coaches' perspective, they would not come and give their best. That's the only thing we worry about."
Italy forward Zaniolo to miss Euro 2024 due to foot injury
Italy forward Nicolo Zaniolo will miss Euro 2024 after suffering a foot injury during Aston Villa's Premier League draw with Liverpool on Monday.
Zaniolo – who joined Unai Emery's side on a season-long loan from Galatasaray last August – came on as a second-half substitute as they fought back from 3-1 down to clinch a 3-3 draw at Villa Park.
That result moved Villa closer to securing Champions League qualification, which was confirmed when Tottenham lost 2-0 at home to Manchester City on Tuesday.
Zaniolo only lasted 14 minutes following his 65th-minute introduction before being withdrawn himself, though, and scans have shown he sustained a microfracture to his foot.
The 24-year-old has now confirmed he will be unable to feature in Italy's title defence at the Euros, with their Group B campaign set to begin against Albania on June 15.
In a post to his Instagram account, Zaniolo wrote: "Thank you for your support in these hours, to you Villans and to the many Italian and Turkish fans. I can't wait to get back on the field stronger than before!
"Unfortunately, I will have to give up my dream of representing my country in a major competition. But that day will come, I'm sure, and it will be beautiful! Come on Azzurri!"
Zaniolo also missed Italy's triumphant run at the delayed Euro 2020 three years ago as he was recovering from a ruptured cruciate ligament.
Arsenal's decision to let Miedema leave 'shocking and outrageous', says White
Arsenal's decision to let Vivianne Miedema leave the club has been described as "shocking" and "outrageous" by former Gunners striker Ellen White.
On Monday, Arsenal announced Miedema – the all-time record scorer in the Women's Super League with 79 goals in the competition – will depart when her contract expires at the end of the campaign.
Miedema helped Arsenal win the WSL title in 2018-19 and clinched the competition's Golden Boot in back-to-back seasons in 2018-19 and 2019-20. In all competitions, she has scored 125 goals and added 50 assists in 172 appearances for the Gunners since arriving from Bayern Munich in 2017.
She has played just 13 games in 2023-24, however, having undergone knee surgery in March. That came after an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury suffered in December 2022 sidelined her for 10 months.
Manchester City have been linked with a move for the Netherlands star, and White believes Arsenal will regret letting her go.
"I think it's an absolutely shocking decision by the club, to be honest," White told BBC Radio 5 Live's Women's Football Weekly.
"I just think it's shocking that they haven't shown her the love to want to keep her at the club.
"If she does want to go to someone else in the WSL, I hope she goes to that team and sticks two fingers up at Arsenal and scores a few goals and celebrates hard. It's just outrageous. She is not going to be short of offers."
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