The Dons travelled to Paisley knowing they had to take all three points if they were to hold on to their faint hopes of reaching the top six while steering clear of the relegation play-off spot
After holding a 95-minute lead, Aberdeen’s remarkable and devastating Premiership setback to St Mirren culminated in a 2-1 loss. Neil Warnock’s winless streak was prolonged, as the Dons dropped to 10th place in the standings.
After Connor Barron’s incredible 25-yard goal under 60 seconds put the Reds up, Mark O’Hara’s penalty in the 96th minute tied the score, and Toyosi Olusanya’s second goal on the 97th minute dealt the visitors a devastating blow.
After losing to St Johnstone midweek, the Dons took a chance and made four changes, and it appeared to be successful. However, their winless streak was extended to ten Premiership games due to the dramatic ending.
They had won their last league game, 3-0, at Ross County on January 2, which was two months ago today, but Warnock hasn’t been able to turn things around for his team.
In front of Gianni Infantino, Barron gave the FIFA President something to remember from his visit to Paisley with a stunning strike with 60 seconds on the clock.
Duk’s cross was only cleared as far as the Scotland Under-21 international, and he drilled his shot perfectly into the top-left corner from 25 yards out – the perfect start for the Dons.
Then things took a turn with barely 20 minutes gone as Scott Tanser’s header crashed off the bar with Kelle Roos getting his fingertips to the ball with the momentum appearing to switch in favour of Stephen Robinson’s men.
Despite a quick VAR check, nothing was awarded to the hosts, and on went the Dons looking to double their lead, but Buddies youngster Lewis Jamieson’s first time volley clipped the crossbar in another scare for the visitors.
A late yellow card in the half was brandished to Bojan Miovski for a foul on goalkeeper Zac Hemming, and with that the first-half came to an end with Aberdeen’s 1-0 lead intact.
Despite being 45 minutes away from his first Scottish Premiership victory, Warnock was feeling confident going into halftime, and the manager decided to stick with his starting lineup.
At the hour mark, Elvis Bwomono had a chance to tie the score for the Saints, but he could only hit the sidenetting. The hosts now had the upper hand in momentum, and the full-back was substituted not long after.
Duk and Junior Hoilett were replaced by James McGarry and Jamie McGrath, with the latter receiving his first Reds start at SMiSA Stadium.
One of the four players added to the starting lineup, Killian Phillips, had a great opportunity to end the match, but his effort went wide before Hemming collected Miovski’s free kick.
Then came the utterly devastating blow. Nick Walsh was called to examine the monitor to determine whether the ball was inside the area and whether Nicky Devlin was at fault for the penalty after a late VAR intervention.
After St Mirren was given the penalty, O’Hara scored in the ninetieth minute, and just when it appeared Aberdeen would have to hold on for a point, Robinson’s team delivered the game-winning strike.
A minute later, on play number 97, Olusanya added a second goal when Mikael Mandron’s header from the back post was met by Olusanya, who poked it in to make the home crowd ecstatic.
Staff and fans joyfully gathered on the pitch. Aberdeen was hopeless. They ended up taking nothing back to Granite City after leading for ninety-five minutes, thereby extending their losing streak to ten games.
However, results from other games won’t give the Red Army much hope either. Motherwell stunned Rangers at Ibrox to pull farther ahead of the Dons, while St Johnstone passed them with a late equaliser to salvage a draw at Livingston.
Next weekend, Aberdeen will play in the Scottish Cup as they sit 10th in the standings, hosting Kilmarnock, who is currently on a roll Pittodrie as Warnock’s torrid tenure at the Dons takes another heavy blow.
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