Aberdeen weren’t themselves in the first half at McDiarmid Park.
Overall, it was a low-key low-tempo 45 minutes when neither side created chances.
However, St Johnstone did edge it marginally and got a goal through David McMillan’s header from a training ground set-play.
Normally, Aberdeen are pretty good in Perth and the Red Army would’ve been unfamiliar with what they were seeing.
The reason for this strange performance is hard to pinpoint.
It was the first time I’ve seen Tommy Wright’s Saints this term – and he deserves credit.
They’ve changed the team around from last season and are young, energetic and above the Dons in the Premiership table.
In the wide areas, they’ve got good pace, which gave Derek McInnes’ team something to think about.
In contrast, Aberdeen’s wide men, Niall McGinn and Gary Mackay-Steven, by their lofty standards, weren’t at the races.
After the break, however, the Reds were on fire.
The stand-out was McGinn who put in the type of performance regularly seen in his first spell and caused Saints all sort of problems from the wing.
On the opposite side, Mackay-Steven was good too and it meant Aberdeen were finally able to take control of the game.
Credit is due to the manager for getting into his key men’s heads and turning around their performances.
They had a good handful of chances before McGinn sent a free-kick into the top corner and you could say McInnes’ team were unlucky to not win the game.
However, after they were back level, the performance dipped again for the last 20 minutes and there was very little to write home about.
What I would say is, all through the game, the Dons’ goalscoring problems up front continued.
Stevie May was up front alone in the opening period, while they went two-up with Sam Cosgrove coming on.
This was needed as May really struggled in the first half.
The £200,000 signing from Peterborough United, Chris Forrester, was pitched in for a first competitive start behind him.
You’d imagine of the three central midfielders, Graeme Shinnie and Stephen Gleeson were meant to hold the centre, while Forrester was supposed to drive forward, like the injured Lewis Ferguson has been doing so effectively.
He didn’t though and May was isolated. It didn’t surprise me to see Forrester hooked at half-time.
May is the type of striker who needs company to be honest, because he doesn’t stick to the middle of the pitch and inside the box like Adam Rooney did.
He’s a work horse and at times drops deep or runs the channels – the only issue is it often leaves no one in the box when McGinn or Mackay-Steven hit the byeline and send balls into the middle.
Since he left McDiarmid Park for England and a frustrating time with injuries, something has gone missing in his game which used to see him score regularly.
However, after the break, alongside Cosgrove he was clearly better for having someone beside him to work with, so this appears to be the way forward when May is in the team.
The problem of not having a reliable goal-scorer is something which needs to be solved.
At the back, even with players out and despite conceding a poor goal, Aberdeen are good – even with Tommie Hoban and Michael Devlin unavailable.
In the striking position or positions, fans will need to trust McInnes’ judgment, after watching the players every day, that young Bruce Anderson is not ready to lead the line.
And, until he’s fit again, it’s unclear if on-loan Manchester United man James Wilson will be the answer.
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