Aberdeen took a significant step forward in their bid for European football next season as Barry Robson’s side cut the gap with Hearts to a single point, courtesy of a 1-0 victory at McDiarmid Park.
Here are three things we learned as the race for third took another intriguing twist.
Considine’s birthday card leaves Saints short
Callum Davidson’s men were always going to need to be on their game to win this contest – the Dons had won four out of their last five outings, after all, while Saints came into the match off the back of a three-game winless streak – and it became an uphill struggle within minutes of kick-off.
Considine’s dismissal just a few minutes into the game left his side in the lurch and it all spawned from a clumsy challenge. Aberdeen sprung forward on the counter when a neat threaded ball split the hosts’ defence open; Considine was caught on the wrong side of Bojan Miovski and brought the Macedonian down on the edge of the area.
It was an inauspicious way for the experienced centre-half to mark his 36th birthday and Davidson’s men never truly recovered. They did well to remain in the game until Angus MacDonald flicked on a Jonny Hayes corner on the half-hour mark, forcing Remi Matthews to bundle the ball into his own net, but they struggled to seriously threaten their opponents until exerting some late pressure.
Graeme Shinnnie's 90th-minute sending off for collecting a second yellow led to a frantic finale - Kelle Roos required an extraordinary reaction stop to deny Liam Gordon in the game's final act - but the damage had already been done as Saints walked away empty-handed.
Robson’s revolution continues unabated
The Aberdeen manager, who was previously serving on an interim basis, was given the gig until the end of the season earlier this week off the back of the team’s remarkable upturn in form and it is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
Robson’s players will face trickier tests than this, given the numerical superiority they enjoyed, but the Dons could only play the team in front of them and they did so in encouraging fashion. They were patient with the ball as they shifted it from side to side, probing for an opening in the deep Saints defence and although they could have fashioned a few more clear-cut chances, the visitors controlled the game with a measured display. It got a little uncomfortable towards the end when Saints launched the kitchen sink but they held firm for a valuable victory.
With Hearts losing to Kilmarnock, a solitary point now separates Robbie Neilson’s side in third and the Dons in fourth – and the momentum is with the men from Pittodrie with eight games to go. Given all the unrest that plagued the club earlier in the campaign, it is a remarkable change in fortunes.
Match won’t live long in the memory
This contest felt settled as soon as the visitors took the lead and it would be fair to say it wasn’t one for the neutral. St Johnstone can be a tad defensive at the best of times and Considine’s red ensured that the initiative would be surrendered. The home players played most of the game on the edge of their own area, restricting space for Aberdeen’s attackers, which didn't make for spectacular viewing.
The Dons, meanwhile, appeared to treat this more as a training exercise. There was little urgency about the way they attacked and large swathes of the game were played at a pedestrian pace. It was a case of job done for Robson’s team but the away supporters will not exactly be fondly recalling this success for years to come.
