Hitting the skids
Saints’ run comes to a grinding halt
spot and Ciftci was on hand to extend the lead.
It was going to be a long afternoon for the visiting supporters after that second goal as Saints only offered brief glimpses of what they were capable of in the final third.
Chances, though, were few and far between for the Buddies and, with a two-goal deficit to chase, it was always going to be difficult.
Midfielders Kenny McLean and John McGinn fashioned a few half-chances for Steven Thompson to feed off but they were easily dealt with by the Arabs and that’s about as good as it got for Saints.
That third goal duly arrived around the hour mark and it was Gauld who netted when he picked up Ciftci’s pass and fired beyond Kello from the edge of the box.
Striker Thompson, so often a thorn in the side of United where he started his professional career, nearly pulled one back for the visitors after he rounded goalkeeper Radoslaw Cierzniak but Andrew Robertson was there to make the clearance.
It just about summed St Mirren’s day up and, with seven minutes remaining, substitute Erskine scored United’s fourth from Ryan Dow’s pass.
Star Saint: Kenny McLean
Midfielder McLean wins the nomination this week for an industrious and committed display in an otherwise depressing afternoon on Tayside
Match Facts
Score Dundee Utd 4 St Mirren 0
Scorers Ciftci (27, 34 pen), Gauld (59), Erskine (83) Bookings No-one
Red Carded No-one
Referee Iain Brines
Attendance 6,331
Teams Dundee Utd (4-4-2): Cierzniak, Wilson, Robertson, Paton (Gomis 68), Souttar, Gunning, MackaySteven, Rankin, Graham, Ciftci (Dow 75), Gauld (Erskine 68). Subs not used: Butcher, Goodwillie, Armstrong, McCallum.
St Mirren (4-1-4-1): Kello, van Zanten (Naismith 63), Kelly, McLean, McGregor, Mair, Newton, Goodwin (Caprice 63), Thompson, McGowan, McGinn (Harkins 64). Subs not used: Cornell, McAusland, Bahoken, Grainger.