St Johnstone 0-1 Aberdeen - The Verdict: Player ratings, talking points and star man as Dons pile the pressure on Hearts in race to finish third

Aberdeen saw off St Johnston 1-0 in Perth to slash the gap on third-placed Hearts to just one point.

Robson was recently confirmed as Dons manager until the end of the season - but delivered another compelling argument for that tenure to be extended.

The Dons secured a fourth straight Premiership win for the first time since September 2020 courtesy of a first half goal.

Angus MacDonald's volley in the 30th minute was initially saved by keeper Remi Matthews but the ball bounced off Matthews' foot and into the net.

Aberdeen played against 10 men for the majority of the match after former Don Andy Considine was red carded for a last man challenge on Bojan Miovski after just six minutes.

The Dons were also reduced to 10 men in injury time when captain Graeme Shinnie was dismissed for a second yellow following a foul on Drey Wright.

Liam Gordon hit the bar for St Johnstone late on but the Dons held on to grind out a vital win.

Aberdeen took full advantage of Hearts' 2-1 loss at Kilmarnock to heap more pressure on the Tynecastle club.

Talking points

Piling the pressure on Hearts in the race to finish third

Aberdeen are piling the pressure on Hearts in the race to finish third and land a potential European payday in excess of £3 million.

The Reds are the team with all the momentum as the win at St Johnstone was the fourth successive victory.

Under the guidance of Barry Robson the Dons have now won five of their last six Premiership matches to reignite the bid to finish third.

When Robson took over the management in an interim role on January 28 the Reds were in the bottom six and 10 points behind Hearts.

That gap has now been slashed to just one point after Hearts lost at Kilmarnock.

Aberdeen are on the rise under Robson whilst the Tynecastle club are faltering having lost their last three league games.

This is the first time Aberdeen have won four Premiership games in succession since September 2020, under Derek McInnes.

Ironically that run under McInnes also included a 1-0 away win at St Johnstone.

A third-placed finish could bring European action until Christmas next season - provided Celtic or Rangers win the Scottish Cup.

The third-placed club will then enter the Europa League at the play-off stage, just one two legged tie from the lucrative group stages.

Reward for reaching the Europa League groups is a payment of £3.2 million, while it is £2.7m in the Conference League groups.

Should the third placed team lose in the Europa League play-offs they drop into the Conference League group stages -which brings a payment of £2.7m.

Aberdeen now have the momentum in the race to secure that prize.

Aberdeen must sign Angus MacDonald on new deal

Aberdeen must sign defender Angus MacDonald on a new contract for next season.

The 30-year-old has been a superb addition since arriving at Pittodrie on transfer deadline day following his exit from Swindon Town.

MacDonald's short term deal with the Dons expires at the end of the season.

Prior to his arrival at Pittodrie Aberdeen had secured just six clean sheets in 23 games.

Aberdeen have secured four shut-outs in seven games since MacDonald signed and was pitched into the heart of defence.

The clean sheet against St Johnstone was the fourth shut out in the last five Premiership games.

MacDonald has forged a strong centre-back partnership, whether in a back three or four, with fellow January addition Mattie Pollock.

Defender MacDonald brings a calmness, experience and resilience to the Dons back line.

Whilst previously the Reds' rearguard looked porous and vulnerable with MacDonald and Pollock it is solid.

MacDonald also brings an attacking threat at set-pieces.

In the 30th minute the defender raced to meet a cross from Jonny Hayes on the right and fired in an eight yard volley on the run.

Keeper Remi Matthews initially saved the shot but the ball then cannoned off his leg and into goal.

It will officially go down as an own goal but MacDonald can rightly claim it is his first goal for Aberdeen.

Nightmare birthday for former Don Andy Considine

Aberdeen legend Andy Considine suffered a nightmare against his former club when sent off following a straight red after only six minutes.

The early dismissal also came on the former Pittodrie defender's 36th birthday.

It was one card the Scotland international didn't want.

Considine was sent off by referee Colin Steven for a last man challenge on Bojan Miovski after the striker raced onto a Graeme Shinnie through ball.

Whistler Steven took an eternity to make a decision on whether it was a red card challenge or not.

After four minutes the referee then went to a VAR review before he then decided to send Considine packing.

Steven had not even booked Considine for the challenge initially.

Referee Steven also initially awarded a penalty to Aberdeen before rightly changing that call to a free-kick a yard outside the box following a VAR review.

The free-kick came to nothing.

Considine left Aberdeen at the end of last season after talks on a new contract broke down, ending 18 years in the Reds first team squad.

He had made 571 appearances for the Dons.

His Pittodrie exit was a fundamental factor in Aberdeen becoming so vulnerable in defence, a problem that damaged the season.

Aberdeen had conceded more league goals than any other Premiership team before Barry Robson took over the managerial hots-eat.

Only under Robson has the defensive frailty, of which Considine's exit was a factor, been fixed.

Talking tactics

On loan Middlesbrough Hayden Coulson missed the game as he was given time off having recently been involved in a 17-vehicle car accident.

The 24-year-old and family members were in one of the cars involved in the accident on the A92 between Newtonhill and Muchalls.

Robson confirmed Coulson and his family are all "safe and well" but the defender was given time off to be with his family.

Aberdeen boss Robson retained faith in the same starting XI that defeated Hearts 3-0 at Pittodrie prior to the international break.

He also retained the 3-5-2 formation that was so effective against Hearts.

When Andy Considine was sent off Robson switched to four at the back in a 4-3-3 with Ross McCrorie going in at right-back.

Referee watch

Colin Steven took almost five minutes to make a final decision on the incident with Andy Considine early in the match.

Steven initially awarded a penalty to Aberdeen and did not book Considine.

After a long wait he eventually went to VAR then changed his mind on both counts.

He opted to award a free-kick to the Reds a yard outside the penalty area and then raised a card to send off Considine.

Player ratings

ABERDEEN (3-5-2): Roos 7; Pollock 7, MacDonald 7, Scales 6; McCrorie 7, Ramadani 6, Clarkson 6, Shinnie 7, Hayes 6 (Duncan 76); Miovski 6 (Watkins 90), Duk 6 (Myslovic 84)

Subs not used: Lewis, MacKenzie, Markanday, Richardson, Kennedy, Bavidge.

ST JOHNSTONE (3-4-1-2): Matthews 5; McGowan 6, Gordon 6, Considine 1; Wright 6, Phillips 6 (Bair 90), Hallberg 6, Montgomery 6; Wotherspoon 5 (Murphy 71); Rudden  5 (Carey 65),  May 6

Subs not used: Sinclair, Brown, Gallacher, Mitchell, Moreland, Mylchreest.

Attendance: 6,001

Star man

Angus MacDonald: MacDonald was rock solid throughout and played a key role in another clean sheet, and win, for resurgent Aberdeen.

The centre-back's volley at goal was also fumbled into the net for the vital goal by keeper Remi Matthews.