Aberdeen slumped to a second home defeat in a row as a resilient St Johnstone left Pittodrie with all three points thanks to a 1-0 win.
Ali McCann’s sixth minute goal on the break was enough to give Tommy Wright’s side victory as the toothless Dons were again punished for their lack of cutting edge in the final third in what was another disappointing display.
Dons boss Derek McInnes made three changes for the visit of Saints with Niall McGinn, Funso Ojo and Shay Logan all dropping to the bench from the starting line-up which drew with Rangers at Ibrox.
That meant new signing Ronald Hernandez was given his debut while Ryan Hedges and Jon Gallagher were also drafted in.
Saints boss Tommy Wright also made three changes following his side’s 3-3 draw against Hearts with Chris Kane, Scott Tanser and Liam Gordon replaced by Kevin Holt, Callum Booth and Michael O’Halloran.
Aberdeen fans hoping to see their side continue where they left off in an encouraging display in Govan on Saturday were left disappointed as the Dons conceded an early goal to the visitors.
Slack defending was punished by a fine sweeping counter from Saints as Liam Craig sent Ali McCann clear on goal and the midfielder calmly lifted the ball over Joe Lewis to score the opener.
From there Saints challenged Aberdeen to break them down and it was a task the Dons struggled with in the first half.
Scott McKenna headed wide from a Matty Kennedy corner while Ryan Hedges saw his curling effort saved by Saints goalkeeper Zander Clark but that was a near as the Dons got to finding an equaliser before the interval.
Sam Cosgrove and Scott McKenna both forced Clark into making saves in the second half while Niall McGinn struck the post with a free kick in injury time but Aberdeen lacked the guile or the tempo to find an equaliser.
