Substitute Alex Greive’s late header earned St Mirren a dramatic 3-2 victory away to Hibernian in their cinch Premiership opener at Easter Road.
The Buddies roared into a 2-0 lead after Mark O’Hara and Toyosi Olusanya scored in the first 17 minutes.
The Paisley side looked to have blown their chances of three points when Hibs hit back through second-half goals from Adam Le Fondre and Christian Doidge.
But Greive was on target in the 88th minute, ensuring the hosts suffered a demoralising start to their league campaign ahead of their Europa Conference League qualifier at home to Swiss side FC Luzern on Thursday.
Hibs made one enforced change to the team that started their 6-1 Conference League qualifying victory over Inter d’Escaldes as David Marshall, who pulled up in the warm-up against the Andorrans, returned to replace the injured Jojo Wollacott between the posts.
Saints also made one change initially to the side that started the previous weekend’s Viaplay Cup victory over Forfar as Greg Kiltie took the place of Stav Nahmani.
However, Stephen Robinson was forced into another alteration after Mikael Mandron suffered an injury in the warm-up and fellow forward Olusanya was promoted from the substitutes’ bench.
The visitors made the breakthrough in the 15th minute after they were awarded a penalty when Joe Newell was deemed to have tripped Kiltie in the box following a VAR check.
Captain O’Hara stepped up and sent Marshall the wrong way with his spot-kick.
Two minutes later the visitors doubled their lead when O’Hara cut the Hibs defence open with a lovely through-ball and Olusanya, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Arbroath, ran clear to drill through the legs of the exposed Marshall.
As the Hibs supporters made their frustrations known, manager Lee Johnson responded by making a double substitution just 28 minutes in as he replaced Allan Delferriere and Josh Campbell with Dylan Levitt and Jordan Obita.
The changes had little immediate difference to the hosts’ play, however, as the Buddies kept them comfortably at arm’s length for the remainder of the first half.
Indeed, it was the visitors who continued to look the most threatening, with O’Hara heading a Kiltie corner into the side-netting just after the half-hour mark before Marcus Fraser curled a 20-yard free-kick narrowly over in the 44th minute.
Hibs’ first clear chance came in the 57th minute when Elie Youan burst in from the right, but the Frenchman’s powerful angled drive was turned behind by Zach Hemming.
The hosts eventually got themselves back in the game in the 72nd minute when 36-year-old Le Fondre tucked a low shot clinically beyond Hemming from the edge of the box after Doidge had squared the ball into his path.
And 10 minutes later they were level when Doidge, back in the mix after spending last term on loan at Kilmarnock, ran on to a low cross from Youan and clipped home from six yards out.
However, just as the Edinburgh side looked to be in the ascendancy, St Mirren broke away and got what proved to be the winner when Greive glanced home a header from Kiltie’s cross.
Onana willing to take Man Utd criticism 'bullets'
Andre Onana says he is willing to take criticism "bullets" after a poor Premier League campaign for Manchester United.
The Red Devils recorded their lowest-ever finish in eighth place, with the manager and players coming under scrutiny for some of their performances.
One of those singled out was Onana, who joined United from Inter at the start of the season, after an error-strewn start to his life at the club.
Asked how he deals with the criticism coming from fans, pundits, and former players, Onana said it does not bother him.
"For me, I don't pay attention to it. I have come into this team to take bullets because we are under construction – at the moment, we are not the best," he told the Overlap.
"We have other teams who are doing better than us, and we have to be honest and recognise that. If things and when things are going wrong, don't go for the youngest player – I'm here to take it, Bruno [Fernandes], Casemiro and Harry [Maguire] are there, and we are used to it.
"When it's people who were sitting where I'm sitting, who won everything, sometimes it's bizarre – we are in the same boat. We try to follow your thing and what you did. For me, I don't mind, but other people may be affected. For me, to be honest, it's just a part of the game."
United conceded 84 goals in all competitions this season, their worst-ever tally in a single campaign.
Erik ten Hag’s side also missed out on a European place due to their league finish but have another opportunity to get one if they beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final on Saturday.
Onana is optimistic though as he views the season as a learning curve.
"I'm happy because we have good people around us, especially at this club, who helped me so much," he added.
"That's why I'm still smiling - because the first six months were difficult, but at the same time, it was a good moment to learn.
"After playing the final of the Champions League and the final of the Europa League, you think you are the best – life gives you an opportunity to learn and says, 'You are never too big'.
"You can have a good season, next year you have a bad season, but the year after an amazing season. The ups and downs and being here, you have to deal with them – especially being a goalkeeper."
Howe taking plenty of positives despite frustrating Newcastle campaign
Eddie Howe was keen to look at the positives after Newcastle United secured seventh place in the Premier League on Sunday.
Alexander Isak and Bruno Guimaraes were among the goalscorers as Newcastle won 4-2 at Brentford to finish their Premier League campaign.
The victory ensured a seventh-place finish, and a Manchester City victory over Manchester United in next Saturday's FA Cup final will confirm Newcastle's place in next season's Europa Conference League.
While this season did not quite live up to the heroics of last term, which saw the Magpies finish in the Champions League spots, Howe still feels it has been a successful campaign.
"It summed up our season," Howe told BBC Sport. "We weren't totally secure at the back, but great credit to the players. They've done their job - now we wait and see.
"We anticipated after losing against Manchester United that our control of the [European] situation had gone. It's never a nice situation, but whatever happens, happens.
"We have issues to solve defensively. If we can do that, next season could be another season of really strong performances. This was a season that could have been better, but a good season overall.
"We're a really united club. I think we're still moving forward, so there's a lot to be positive about."
Postecoglou will not settle until Tottenham hit his 'lofty ambitions'
Ange Postecoglou warned Tottenham he will not settle until the club hits the "lofty ambitions" targeted in his mind.
Spurs were 3-0 victors over Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on Sunday, ending their Premier League season with a convincing win to finish fifth in the table.
Postecoglou voiced his frustrations after Tuesday's 2-0 defeat to Manchester City ended their hopes of Champions League football next term.
The Spurs head coach was far more relaxed after his side performed well in Sheffield, with Dejan Kulusevski twice on target, along with a goal for Pedro Porro against the relegated Blades.
Yet Postecoglou insisted his ambitions remain high as the Australian attempts to take Tottenham to the next level.
"Contrary to my general demeanour, I have loved every minute of it," former Celtic boss Postecoglou said of his first season in charge of Tottenham.
"It is a great challenge in the Premier League and taking over a big club that didn't have a great year last year. You understand it is not going to run smoothly, but I have enjoyed the whole season.
"I have got some lofty ambitions for the football club and until we reach that point I am not going to be smiling too much.
"As I said, all any manager wants is maximum effort and I have got that from everyone involved. I have enjoyed it and looking forward to pushing on from here."
Asked to summarise his first campaign in England's top league, Postecoglou continued: "It's been good, it's been eventful, it's had a bit of everything.
"I am obviously not delighted with the way we finished the season but in fairness to the players and staff we have been in the top five all season, in a year where there was a fair bit of upheaval.
"We finished eighth last year, player turnover, different football, different way of training, it is not easy to maintain a level when you are trying to do that.
"Even in our tough periods this year we have still been competitive for the most part."
Kulusevski scored his seventh and eighth Premier League goals of the season (36 outings), more than he managed in his first two league campaigns with Tottenham combined (seven across 48 games).
Only in the 2019-20 season with Parma has the Sweden winger scored more times in a league season (10 in Serie A), and Postecoglou hailed Kulusevski's returns.
He added: "I thought Deki was good. He's worked awfully hard this year without a lot of reward in the front third.
"We thought playing him through middle today would help us with his mobility and ability to run in behind. He did well.
"He always works hard but it's that sort of final third where we need him to get rewards and he got them today so he did well."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
