18/10/2025 – ABERDEEN (H)

One of the many great things about football is the unpredictability, and Saturday was to be one of those occasions where a monumental shock occurred in front of our eyes, when Aberdeen won in Paisley in the league for the first time since Oran Kearny inherited the Alan Stubbs “experiment” in 2018.

It’s never nice when you are on the end of these shock results of course, made even worse by the winning shot being a self-inflicted bullet following some dreadful game management deep into the 7 minutes additional time.

Before we get to that though, the two critical moments of the match prior to the goal were decided by referee Lloyd Wilson via our biggest nemesis of the last couple of seasons, VAR.

Wilson had taken charge of only one of our matches before, an extremely controversial defeat at Fir Park last season, and he was centre of attention again on Saturday as 2 major decisions went against Saints.

The first decision, was a disallowed goal by Alex Gogic around the hour mark, after the Cypriot had rose splendidly to glance a Keanu Baccus cross into the corner of the net following a sustained period of pressure from the home side.

At matches you get a gut feeling about whether a lengthy VAR check is going to be incoming, this one didn’t, however the goal was eventually disallowed for “offside” although an SFA clarification to the BBC seemed to suggest it was for impeding the keeper.

Obviously at the game, supporters have no idea what it is going on during these situations, however after the match replays show Dan Nlundulu as offside when the short corner is eventually worked into the box.

However, this was missed by the linesman, and the game then enters a new phase of play, where Saints knock the ball about before scoring. Usually, only the phase of play where a goal is scored is checked by VAR, and it does not look to phases before this, otherwise a check could go back several minutes.

Whether it was offside or a foul, it is not in the same phase of play as the goal being scored, however we just have to accept that without big Dan being in the way, the goal probably wouldn’t have been scored.

Next up was the sending off of Jayden Richardson with 9 minutes of normal time remaining. The wing back was on a galloping run up the right when he was pulled back by an Aberdeen player, and their legs tangled.

After initially being booked, the defender was then sent off following a VAR review as his legs made contact with the Dons player in an “unnatural manner”.

Although some may argue little contact was made, on this occasion you could at least see what VAR and Lloyd Wilson were thinking and the sending off was probably correct.

This red card would however have the main impact on the outcome, as Aberdeen scored the winner with a lump over the top into the channel where Richardson would have been defending, and it’s unlikely the goal would be scored had he been on.

Aberdeen had threatened little throughout the match, with only our repeated sloppiness giving them opportunities, but on this occasion they exploited the space, and Marko Lazetic just kept the ball in play, nutmegged Scott Tanser before fooling Shamal George by shooting from almost the touchline into the far corner.

The away support piled onto the park, delirious that their heroes had finally managed to beat Saints in Paisley, albeit they needed us down a man to do so. Perhaps another star over the badge for the Dons for such an incredible achievement?

After the match, Stephen Robinson was also ordered off after words with the referee, so we can expect the manager not to be in the dugout at Tannadice next week, where we can only assume Tunmise Sobowale will step in for the suspended Richardson who faces a two match ban, although he will be back for the League Cup Semi Final.

This all leaves Saints mid-table in a group of 4 clubs on 9 points, but with only 3 points separating Hibs in 3rd place to Motherwell in 10th, with Livingston and Aberdeen still detached at the bottom.

Quite simply, we need points. As we’ve already said, Tannadice is next, not the easiest place to go to, but we blew Jim Goodwin’s side away after the split in May 2025, winning 2-0 going on 5 or 6.

That day, Mandron and Ayunga were unplayable. We need both of them to find that form again as we are not scoring enough goals. The fight back needs to start somewhere and the City of Discovery is as good a place as any to start.

If you can, get to Tayside and support the team!

COYS!

Aberdeen Players of the Match:

5 points – Alex Gogic

3 points – Shamal George

1 point – Killian Phillips

Check our the Player of the Season race here –

PLAYER OF THE SEASON 2025/26