Aberdeen 2-2 St Mirren

Another home game should have produced another home win but Aberdeen only have themselves to blame for letting victory slip from their grasp against St Mirren.

The Dons were dominant against the Buddies, but they wasted an alarming number of chances. Despite their missed opportunities they carved out a two-goal lead, only to capitulate in equally incredible fashion in an astonishing game at Pittodrie.

Dons manager Derek McInnes made one change to the team which beat Caley Thistle 3-2 on Saturday.

Fit again Niall McGinn was restored to the starting line-up in place of Andrew Considine, with Jonny Hayes dropping back to left back in a Dons team chasing a fifth home win in a row for the first time since the Jimmy Calderwood era.

It was November 2008 to January 2009 when the Pittodrie faithful last witnessed five wins in a row in Calderwood’s final campaign in charge.

For former Don Tommy Craig, the trip north with his St Mirren side represented a daunting challenge. The performances have been gradually improving for the Buddies but they arrived in the Granite City joint bottom of the Scottish Premiership with just one win league win so far.

Craig made one change to the team which lost 2-1 at home to Celtic on Saturday with former Don Gregg Wylde replacing the injured Jeroen Tesselaar in the starting 11.

McGinn’s return gave McInnes even more pace in his team and he showed his intent to test Saints at every turn, going so far as to leave three attacking players on the halfway line when defending a corner.

It took the Dons all of four minutes to get in behind the St Mirren rearguard as Peter Pawlett released Jonny Hayes down the left. The full back cut inside his marker before forcing Marian Kello into a fine save with David Goodwillie caught in an offside position as he tried to convert the rebound.

The pace of the Dons frontline was a clear cause for concern for the Buddies and Saints defender Marc McAusland soon found himself cautioned for sending Goodwillie sprawling as he tried to break clear from the halfway line.

But Saints have pace too in former Don Wylde and he intercepted an Ashton Taylor passback to Jamie Langfield before racing towards goal. The Aberdeen goalkeeper was equal to the task, however, blocking his shot for a corner.

The chance gave Saints confidence and they went close again with a spectacular long range effort from midfielder Kenny McLean, who saw his 25 yard shot beat Langfield but clip the crossbar.

Aberdeen, who had started so brightly, were rattled, but a quick exchange of passes between McGinn and Goodwillie ended with the Northern Ireland international firing in a shot which Kello did well to keep out.

The pressure was unrelenting towards Kello’s goal but somehow the ball just would not go in. The intervention of Mark Reynolds as an attacking force from central defence helped create another chance as his ball into the box was played across goal by Adam Rooney, but with Kello to beat Goodwillie sidefooted the ball straight into the goalkeeper’s arms.

Another ball in from Rooney minutes later found McGinn, but he failed to make contact from six yards but the breakthrough the Dons deserved finally came their way as Reynolds fired home the loose ball after the Buddies had failed to clear a corner.

Goodwillie and Taylor had been involved in the penalty area pinball before it broke to Reynolds to fire home.

Having waited so long for the breakthrough it took just 10 minutes of the second half for the Dons to double their lead as a Hayes cross hit Rooney before falling into the path of Pawlett who fired the loose ball home.

That should have been all she wrote for Saints but the Dons committed the cardinal sin of switching off. Taylor strode forward but was wasteful with a pass, which Saints capitalised on instantly, breaking forward through Wylde whose low ball was rolled in at the back post by Callum Ball.

The Dons wobbled briefly following the loss of the goal but it wasn’t long before they were back on the front foot.

The home players were lining up for the chances at one point, but no-one could convert with Rooney, McGinn and Logan all squandering opportunities.

Aberdeen were left to rue those missed chances.

Saints pushed men forward more in hope than expectation but it was Reynolds who went from hero to villain, inexplicably handling a John McGinn delivery into the box.

Referee Crawford Allan pointed to the spot and Kenny McLean did the rest, beating Langfield low to his right with four minutes remaining.

Aberdeen: Langfield, Logan, Hayes, Taylor, Reynolds, Flood, Robson, McGinn (Considine), Pawlett (Smith), Rooney, Goodwillie. 

Unused subs: Brown, Murray, Low, Shankland, Monakana.

St Mirren: Kello, Naismith, Kelly, McAusland, Goodwin, McGinn, McLean, Reilly (Caldwell), Ball, Marwood, Wylde.

Unused subs: Brown, Williams, Yaqub, Baird, Morgan, Wilks.