St Johnstone debutant David Keltjens earned St Johnstone a point against Aberdeen – with Saints boss Craig Levin delighted he didn’t take the new arrival after just an hour, as had been planned.
The draw is another blow to Aberdeen who have struggled for consistency this term. This result denied them the chance to go level on points with Hibs and move towards the top six.
Bojan Miovski’s penalty just after the hour mark – awarded after a VAR review by referee John Beaton ruled that Liam Gordon had kicked Slobodan Rubezic – put Aberdeen in front at McDiarmid Park.
That came 10 minutes after St Johnstone thought they had taken the lead, only for Graham Carey’s volley to be ruled out after Beaton again called a foul by Saints captain Gordon following a trip to the screen.
Regardless, St Johnstone kept at it after falling behind and got their reward. Carey’s cross found Keltjens, who beat Aberdeen goalkeeper Kelle Roos who was caught in no-man’s land to the ball and nodded into an empty net.
The draw nudges Aberdeen above Dundee and into seventh but they are 16 points behind third-place Hearts, who they face on Saturday at Tynecastle, albeit with three games in hand.
Meanwhile, St Johnstone stay 10th place, eight points clear of bottom club Livingston having played the same number of matches.
It had been an energetic start to the game from Aberdeen who enjoyed the bulk of the early play with Dante Polvara taking aim with an effort that Dimitar Mitov was comfortably equal to. The early promise, however, soon dissipated as the opening period became a fairly lifeless affair.
Aberdeen could and should have made more of an effort when Jack MacKenzie burst into the box before slipping the ball across the six-yard box. The Pittodrie side had no-one to take advantage.
The second period got considerably more lively. Carey jolted it into life with his ‘goal’ that had beaten Roos at his near post.
The home support’s celebrations, however, were cut abruptly as VAR snuffed out their joy. It got worse again for the hosts.
Gordon was judged to have fouled Rubezic in the box with Beaton trotting back to the monitor again. The call went in Aberdeen’s favour with the whistler pointing to the spot.
Miovski duly converted as he sent a low effort into the bottom corner. Saints keeper Dimitar Mitov guessed the right way but couldn’t keep out the effort that takes Miovski’s tally to 17 for the season so far.
St Johnstone found a way back into the game when headed them level when Keltjens nodded them level.
Max Kucheriavyi hit the woodwork while Ester Sokler should have done more with a header that Motov pushed away.
Both managers seemed frustrated with the draw.
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