St Johnstone beat Kilmarnock 4-3 in the opening round of the Premiership on Saturday. The hosts worked a short corner at 16 minutes and J. Fowler ended a barren spell with the first goal. Kilmarnock responded through G. Kiltie before half-time, but the visitors had nothing to lose going into the interval.
And here's the thing — the match turned after the break. C. Diabate put St Johnstone ahead at 47 minutes, only for J. Hugill to equalise four minutes later. J. Holt then turned the ball into his own net at 53 minutes, a moment that shifted the momentum decisively to the home side.
Kilmarnock refused to fold. M. Schjonning-Larsen's own goal at 69 minutes should have sealed the result, but K. Fotheringham scored at 80 minutes to finish the contest. The hosts had been frozen out early on, yet came for a cross they never reached at the start and eventually worked the channels.
St Johnstone dominated possession at 56 per cent and created three big chances compared to Kilmarnock's two. They registered 10 shots within the penalty area and completed 446 passes, while the visitors managed only 6 key passes across the entire match. Shots accuracy tells a different story — Kilmarnock hit 71 per cent on target compared to the hosts' 33 per cent.
The result leaves St Johnstone in seventh place with 7 points from 6 games, while Kilmarnock remain in 12th with just 1 point from 5 matches. The hosts ended a run of mixed results that included a 1-1 draw with East Fife and a 0-1 defeat by Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Kilmarnock's away form showed no improvement, having drawn 0-0 with Peterhead and lost 4 of their previous 5 league games.