St Johnstone 1-1 Aberdeen: David Kjeltens’ debut goal denies Dons win

Aberdeen’s hopes of finishing third in the Scottish Premiership were dealt a blow as St Johnstone battled back to earn a deserved draw thanks to debutant David Keltjens.

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 stranded Aberdeen goalkeeper Kelle Roos 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 Craig Levein’s St Johnstone stay in 10th place, eight points clear of bottom club Livingston having played the same number of matches.

Player of the match – Graham Carey (St Johnstone)

Saints respond to cup loss, Aberdeen lack identity – analysis

St Johnstone needed a reaction from Saturday’s shock cup exit at Airdrieonians, and manager Levein did get it eventually. The first half was poor from both sides, a non-event.

However, after the break it was Saints who created the better chances. The foul by Gordon that ended in Carey’s goal being chalked off seemed soft, and then to concede a penalty in the same fashion was frustrating.

But the hosts bounced back well, with Diallang Jaiyesimi missing two opportunities, and Max Kucheraviyi hitting the frame of the goal. They are still winless in five and have only managed 14 goals in 21 games, but it was a solid home performance.

Aberdeen have now played half of their league games and it is unclear what their identity or style of play is. Manager Barry Robson has played a back five for most of the season, but it did not bring solidity or results and drew criticism about an overly direct style.

A switch to a back four since the turn of the year has allowed a more possession-based approach, but Aberdeen move the ball too slowly and play with no natural wide players.

At McDiarmid it meant they were narrow, slow and predictable, until the end of the match when things became stretched, and Miovski and substitute Ester Sokler had headed chances.

When Miovksi stroked in his 17th goal of the season from the spot, Aberdeen reverted to the back five to try to see things out with half an hour to play, but still looked vulnerable and conceded.

Saturday’s meeting with Hearts is now huge for the Aberdeen manager. Lose and hopes of third spot will fade away, and there is little time to come up with solutions to the team’s problems.

What’s next?

St Johnstone host Motherwell on Saturday (15:00 GMT) while Aberdeen face Hearts at Tynecastle at the same time.