{"id":21447,"title":"Livi La Vida Choke-a","description":"Saturday\u2019s match up between St Mirren and Livingston was a rock meeting a hard place. It was a Newton\u2019s cradle sat on the desk of the Head of PR for the word \u2018dogmatic\u2019. It was\u2026 well it was shite, wasn\u2019t it?","content":"

\"a70twcnld8kfjywdm9k7j78doutl3ajypri7eln3odg1tppo.png\"<\/p>

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Saturday\u2019s match up between St Mirren and Livingston was a rock meeting a hard place. It was a Newton\u2019s cradle sat on the desk of the Head of PR for the word \u2018dogmatic\u2019. It was\u2026 well it was shite, wasn\u2019t it?<\/p>

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Stephen Robinson\u2019s St Mirren have, of late, rivalled David Martindale\u2019s men for the position of the league\u2019s best off-the-ball outfit. The way both look to cede possession (Saints\u2019 36.1% avg possession is the lowest in the league, with Livi\u2019s 38.8% a close second), condense the pitch and hit an opponent on the break, while being an effective tactic, does not exactly make for an enthralling spectacle when put up against each other.<\/p>

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This was very much the case in the first half, with the 45 going by without much incident of note. Livi sat too deep for Saints to really create anything concrete and we were forced into feeding off scraps, snatched efforts and half chances from set pieces. Livi\u2019s wide pairing of James Penrice and Dylan Bahamboula looked on the verge of threatening at times but were pulled under by a game-wide lack of creativity and spark. With much of the \u201caction\u201d taking place in the centre of the park (looking at both side\u2019s average positions across the 90, you could virtually throw a sheet over the middle third and be left with two goalkeepers staring at one another), the half time whistle was a welcome end to a stuffy, uninspired affair.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

The opening phases of the second half very much followed suit before bursting into life on 69 minutes as Keanu Baccus headed Saints into the lead.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

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The goal (incidentally St Mirren\u2019s first shot on target. Can you say clinical?) is particularly interesting when viewed alongside Jonah Ayunga\u2019s goal two weekends ago in the 2-0 win over Celtic. The striker\u2019s header against the champions came from a well-executed long throw from throw Declan Gallagher. Compare this to the build-up to Baccus\u2019 opener. (second graphic as used on Sportscene).<\/p>

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\"gx9jpvooi6v5wupqoyztdamkvubi0ialmryi8fdrpqryqwoj.png\"<\/p>

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As Saints line up a throw-in from virtually the same spot, Livingston assume Saints will look to deploy this same set piece again. With four Livi defenders with their backs to the ball, Gallagher instead goes short to Ryan Flynn, who (with the opposition caught unawares) plays an inch-perfect ball onto the head of Aussie Internationalist Baccus for his second goal of the season.<\/p>

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The visitors were given an almost immediate opportunity to get themselves back into the game, however, as Bruce Anderson saw his (probably goalbound? Let\u2019s just say aye) shot expertly saved by the hand of Jonah Ayunga. The red card shown to Ayunga was vindicated as ex-Saint Sean Kelly sent the resulting penalty sailing over Trevor Carson\u2019s crossbar. Can\u2019t lie, one of my favourite series of events I\u2019ve seen on a football pitch in a while.<\/p>

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\"ccy1mvhsxaujyqusjnonawceuti6nmugfrvmiczwpmz8hegy.png\"<\/p>

The really satisfying period of the game from the point of view of the St Mirren fans, however, came following Bruce Anderson\u2019s 86th-minute equaliser. With some slack defending allowing Joel Nouble to fire a low cross onto the head of his striker, many inside the SMISA worried that the pendulum would now swing in the favour of the West Lothian side.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

This is not due to a lack of faith in our team - it is simply a film we have seen before.<\/p>

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However, the fight and resilience on show from Robinson\u2019s ten men was a joy. Rather than a backs-to-the-wall effort to save a point, St Mirren pushed on for the win. The 71st-minute departure of St\u00e9phane Om\u00e9onga had seen Livingston lose their best asset in turning over possession and \u2013 without their midfield outball \u2013 they were subject to a period of extended Saints pressure without being able to clear their lines at all. Ten-man St Mirren were able to best Livi at their own game, winning set piece after set piece. As Alex Grieve found a floated corner end up at his feet, spinning Nicky Devlin and rifling home a 90th-minute winner home emphatically in front of an ecstatic home crowd, it was no more than our endeavour merited.<\/p>

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\"jiuy3iuqg40t4icvnvygvk0ekinqbmsqzdwcqr17rb9xswwc.png\"<\/p>

St Mirren\u2019s recent win against Celtic will no doubt prove a season-high, but the scrappy 2-1 win over Livingston is every inch as impressive. To not just win games, but win games ugly is the mark of a team with real top six ambitions. Despite hitting nowhere near the levels we are capable of on Saturday, we notched our fifth win of the season and currently sit in third place in the league \u2013 our best opening eight league matches (adjusted for points per win) since the 1959\/1960 season.<\/p>

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Lying in wait next week is a trip to Ibrox.<\/p>

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With a depleted squad (Ayunga suspended, question marks over injuries to Strain, Main, Brophy and Tait) compounding the size of the task, our run will be tested. But with the character, we have seen from St Mirren this season? You wouldn\u2019t bet against us.<\/p>","urlTitle":"livi-la-vida-choke-a","url":"\/blog\/livi-la-vida-choke-a\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/livi-la-vida-choke-a\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/miseryhunters.co.uk\/blog\/livi-la-vida-choke-a\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":false,"visibility":null,"createdAt":1664869334,"updatedAt":1664870793,"publishedAt":1664870793,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":106606,"name":"Misery Hunters"},"tags":[],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/opi1ehlyexsn9ginlqebyj9msbon7utv5uvc7qwau1cehmvl.png","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/opi1ehlyexsn9ginlqebyj9msbon7utv5uvc7qwau1cehmvl.png.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/opi1ehlyexsn9ginlqebyj9msbon7utv5uvc7qwau1cehmvl.png.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"metaTitle":"","metaDescription":"","keyPhraseCampaignId":null,"series":[],"similarReads":[{"id":21143,"title":"I'm Loving Ange Ls Instead","url":"\/blog\/im-loving-ange-ls-instead\/","urlTitle":"im-loving-ange-ls-instead","division":106606,"description":"\u201cComfortable, actually\u201d was how Mark O\u2019Hara described St Mirren\u2019s 2-0 win over Celtic in his post-match interview on Sunday. And you have to say, the captain and goalscorer was pretty much spot on in his assessment of his side\u2019s performance.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/2rorjkztngdngvomwlcmw8rhoeewpwcceb0sha8wn5mxnzos.png.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/2rorjkztngdngvomwlcmw8rhoeewpwcceb0sha8wn5mxnzos.png.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":15071,"title":"Feeling \u201822","url":"\/blog\/feeling-22\/","urlTitle":"feeling-22","division":106606,"description":"Following last year\u2019s 7th place league finish (a 31 year high), feeling around Paisley heading into the 2021\/22 season was high. It brings me no pleasure, however, to report that for much of the campaign thus far, St Mirren have been well and truly At It.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/hzpmap6n9r0votg8azam2c4on7cf6arqyhha21gsddzvik9u.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/hzpmap6n9r0votg8azam2c4on7cf6arqyhha21gsddzvik9u.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":45546,"title":"good win, b.A.A.d footy","url":"\/blog\/goodwin-b-a-a-d-footy\/","urlTitle":"goodwin-b-a-a-d-footy","division":106606,"description":"A tactical deep dive into St Mirren's struggles against similar styles of play in the Scottish Premiership. Misery Hunters' Andrew Christie breaks down what needs to change ahead of Jim Goodwin's return to Paisley with Dundee United, examining how Saints can overcome the tactical stalemates that have defined their season against similar opponents.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/r10s9cxy6hun6eojy7cqt3ds7lijh4a33p4owh7l1olbdhdh.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/r10s9cxy6hun6eojy7cqt3ds7lijh4a33p4owh7l1olbdhdh.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0}],"labels":[]}