St Mirren secured their second Premiership victory in a row with an emphatic 3-0 win over Dundee United at Tannadice.
Goals either side of half-time by Buddies leader Curtis Main and a late third from sub Alex Grieve were enough to bring the three points back to Paisley.
For United and boss Jack Ross, it was their fourth successive defeat – conceding 15 goals in the process – and, worryingly for the Tangerines, they face Celtic next Sunday.
St Mirren had a great chance to take the lead from the first minute but Jonah Ayunga headed just wide of the post by United goalkeeper Carljohan Eriksson.
The Buddies’ Keanu Baccus then struck a thunderous volley from the edge of United’s penalty area which home skipper Ryan Edwards bravely headed for a corner although the defender was knocked down by the ferocious shot.
The Tangerines struggled to make an impression in the contest with St Mirren in charge.
Just after the half hour mark the Buddies launched a counter-attack from deep within their own half with Baccus bursting down the left before playing a pass to Ryan Strain who then found Mark O’Hara but his shot bas was well saved by Eriksson.
Shortly after, St Mirren claimed a penalty after the ball appeared to hit United defender Aziz Behich’s arm inside the box, but referee Matthew MacDermid saw no infringement.
Buddies goalkeeper Trevor Carson was finally called into action when he had to pull off a superb acrobatic save to overturn a Glenn Middleton free kick from 22 yards out.
However, it was St Mirren who broke the deadlock in the 40th minute.
O’Hara went on a driving rush with his forward pass attempt deflected by Dylan Levitt in the way of Main who advanced on goal before calmly moving past Eriksson.
St Mirren doubled their advantage in the 51st minute when they countered again with O’Hara playing Ayunga on the right of United’s box with the ball eventually broken towards Main and the striker again giving no luck to Eriksson, firing hard at home.
United fought back with Carson producing another vital save against his former club, this time diving to his right to deny a shot from sub Ilmari Niskanen.
However, it was the Buddies who put the icing on the cake in the 90th minute with another counter-attack that ended with Eamonn Brophy playing in his compatriot under Grieve in acres of space. Eriksson rushed out of his box but Grieve calmly passed the ball into the back of the net from 25 yards out.
