A ‘PERFECT’ STALEMATE AT PITTODRIE IS PAINFUL VIEWING:
PERFECT. That would be the word which legendary Italian journalist Gianni Brera (a redoubtable figure for whom football was an art form) would have used to describe this match.
Brera, one of European football’s most influential writers, was of the opinion that the ‘perfect’ game of calcio would finish 0-0; zero mistakes would be made, with both teams striking a flawless equilibrium between defence and attack.
Maybe so. But, at the end of 90 minutes which crushed the soul and drew blood from the eyes of all those unfortunate enough to have witnessed it, you wouldn’t imagine many of the 11,501 fans in attendance at Pittodrie on Saturday would have echoed Brera’s sentiments.
Truthfully, this was as poor a match as you’re likely to see.
The two goalkeepers, Joe Lewis and Zander Clark, had more chance of catching hypothermia than the ball. It was never anywhere near them, such was the dearth of attacking quality on display.
But that is becoming par for the course when these two teams meet.
Aberdeen and St Johnstone have played each other three times so far this season. Those 270 minutes of football have produced just one solitary goal — a last-minute winner from Adam Rooney in the League Cup quarter-final in September. Not that St Johnstone will care. This was a fine point for Tommy Wright’s team, who, as they so often are, were marshalled expertly to a clean sheet by the wily, miserly figure of Steven Anderson in central defence.
To their credit, the Perth club have now drawn away at Ibrox, Tynecastle and Pittodrie this season.
Yet, this will still be a worry for Derek McInnes and his Aberdeen players. Not so much the result in itself, but the manner of the performance. The 3-0 defeat to Celtic in last month’s League Cup Final has absolutely shattered their confidence.
Plainly, it will require more than the 5-1 victory over a hapless Kilmarnock side last midweek to heal the wounds and mental scarring of that hammering at Hampden.
After losing so resoundingly in a showpiece match, the Dons badly need a big result against a top opponent to restore a bit of swagger.
Their lack of conviction and authority in this match was summed up in a passage of play shortly before half-time when left-back Graeme Shinnie was sent clear by a raking switch of play from Kenny McLean.
There was acres of space for Shinnie to charge forward and exploit but, tentatively and inexplicably, he checked back and allowed St Johnstone to regroup.
It typified everything about Aberdeen. Neither McInnes nor his players could have had many complaints about being booed off at full-time.
‘The fans pay their money and it probably wasn’t the greatest of spectacles,’ said Rooney. ‘They are entitled to their opinion but, overall, they’ve been great with us over the past couple of seasons.’
Aberdeen’s inconsistency is perhaps best highlighted by the fact that, in the race to be named best of the rest behind Celtic, they now trail a barely functioning Rangers team by four points, albeit with a game in hand.
‘The clean sheet was a positive for us, but we need to be more creative in the final third,’ admitted striker Rooney, who looked off the pace himself and has only one league goal to his name since October 1.
In fairness to Rooney, he had no service on Saturday.
So ineffective was Niall McGinn that he was subbed at half-time. Jonny Hayes was a pest to the St Johnstone defence, but offered little in the way of end product.
The Dons were painfully slow and flat in possession. St Johnstone revelled in the hesitancy of their opponents, consistently robbing them of the ball and always looking the more likely team to score by springing forward on some incisive counter-attacks.
Ryan Jack was the first culprit for the home side on 18 minutes. The Aberdeen skipper had his pocket picked by Liam Craig on the halfway line.
Craig then fed Steven MacLean in the right channel and the striker’s lofted cutback was volleyed only inches wide by an onrushing Murray Davidson.
Aberdeen’s best chance of the whole match came on 20 minutes when Andy Considine flashed a header just over the crossbar from James Maddison’s corner. That was really about it.
That they left the field with a point to show for their efforts was thanks largely to their goalkeeper Lewis, who, in his only meaningful save all afternoon, tipped a David Wotherspoon free-kick on to the post on 88 minutes.
‘We definitely had the better chances,’ said Wotherspoon, a crafty and energetic performer on the right of midfield for Saints.
‘Of the two teams, it generally looked like we were going to score and get the victory.
‘We are disappointed not to have done it, but a clean sheet and a point away at Pittodrie is never something to complain about.’