Aberdeen vs St Mirren. Scottish Premiership.
PittodrieAttendance8,002.
Match report as Aberdeen ease to victory over St Mirren; Marley Watkins and Christian Ramirez both score two goals; It's only the second time this season the Dons have recorded back-to-back league wins
Saturday 4 December 2021 20:56, UK
Impressive Aberdeen made it back-to-back wins in the Scottish Premiership for just the second time this season as they outgunned St Mirren 4-1 to move ahead of Hibernian and into the top six.
Marley Watkins and Christian Ramirez both scored two goals for the Dons, with Scott Tanser's effort just before half-time the only consolation for the visitors.
Aberdeen were unchanged from their midweek win over Livingston, while St Mirren - who could have leapfrogged the Dons with a win - made three changes, including the return of captain Joe Shaughnessy in the centre of defence.
With rain teeming down on the Pittodrie surface, an open game was always likely, and David Bates made a crucial block to deny Eamonn Brophy after just three minutes.
Aberdeen opened the scoring four minutes later as Watkins followed up to fire home from close range after Jak Alnwick had saved his initial header.
It was 2-0 two minutes later as Jay Emmanuel-Thomas' deflected shot fell to Ramirez, who twisted to send a low right-footed effort across Alnwick and into the net from the corner of the six-yard box.
The game opened up after that with Matt Millar looking lively on the right for the visitors. Bates was well-placed to clear his header from a Jamie McGrath cross and soon after, the same player stung the palms of Joe Lewis.
The resultant corner saw Millar again denied by Lewis as the ball somehow stayed out amid a melee at the near post.
But Millar got his reward when he provided the assist for Tanser, setting up the left-back for a drilled 15-yard finish.
Any fears of an Aberdeen collapse were immediately dispelled though as the Welsh pair of Ryan Hedges and Watkins combined for the latter to fire home a similar finish from closer range.
Ramirez came close with a diving header early in the second half but his side were lucky to avoid giving away a penalty with Scott Brown taking out Alan Power. Referee Willie Collum saw no foul, however.
The introduction of Teddy Jenks for Emmanuel-Thomas on the hour mark sparked a fresh momentum for Aberdeen, with Jenks denied by Alnwick shortly after coming on. The goalkeeper would then produce a fine double-save from Funso Ojo.
The goalkeeper was left helpless when Ramirez made it 4-1 with a close-range finish at the far post from Jenks' low ball across the face of goal 19 minutes from time.
Aberdeen boss Stephen Glass: "I think there's a bit of toughness about the group that they don't get credit for at times.
"The game got a wee bit messy after the goals. (Manager) Jim's (Goodwin) got St Mirren playing good football and they didn't give up on that after going two goals down.
"Our quality in the first half wasn't what it should have been which allowed them to come into it a bit too much, but we were very professional in the second half.
"Getting the third goal so quickly after St Mirren scored shows the character of this group. They felt like they got a bit of a slap and found a way to fix it quickly. They've done that a few times this season."
St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin: "It's the first game in a number of weeks where I've been able to say 'we were well beaten by the better team'.
"In recent weeks we've been involved in every game and could have won two or three.
"Aberdeen were a real threat all afternoon. Their front four were terrific and we've got to accept we were beaten by the better team.
"The goals we conceded were really poor from our point of view. When we got it back to 2-1, I thought we could stay in the game, but for Aberdeen to get their third so quickly knocked the wind out of the boys' sails.
"It's not for a lack of effort - sometimes in football you play against teams that are better than you and that was the case today."
Aberdeen travel to St Johnstone, while St Mirren host Hibernian, with both Scottish Premiership games kicking off at 3pm on Saturday December 11.
