Livingston vs St. Johnstone. Scottish Premiership.
Tony Macaroni ArenaAttendance1,602.
Report as Livingston and St Johnstone play out a goalless draw in West Lothian; David Martindale's side are without a win in their last 11 games
Thursday 28 December 2023 01:08, UK
Livingston and St Johnstone battled to a goalless stalemate and a share of the spoils.
It was just a second point from a possible 33 for the home side, who have now failed to win in 11 games and are four points adrift at the foot of the Scottish Premiership table.
With just two goals from their last 10 games, it was perhaps no surprise Livi failed to find a breakthrough during a poor 90 minutes.
For St Johnstone, the draw arrested back-to-back defeats and gives them eight points from a possible 18.
Livingston manager David Martindale named an attacking side as the home team attempted to improve their record of only one goal in their last nine games.
In a change of tactics, Bruce Anderson partnered Kurtis Guthrie in up front, while Joel Nouble was deployed as a right wing-back.
Saints boss Craig Levein was forced into four changes as his team looked to bounce back from successive league losses.
Fran Franczak and Ryan McGowan missed out through illness, while Chris Kane and Graham Carey were named on the bench following a demanding run of games.
Saints created the first chance after seven minutes although it was later called back for a foul.
Stevie May took the ball off Ayo Obileye and squared for Nicky Clark, but the striker was on the stretch and fired wide. Clark's blushes, however, were spared by referee Kevin Clancy deciding May's challenge on Obileye was illegal.
Livingston goalkeeper Shamal George, reinstated in the team after being dropped for the weekend's defeat at Celtic, then spilled a simple ball along the deck, but both Clark and May failed to take advantage before the linesman's flag was raised.
As the worst scorers in the Premiership, it should have come as no surprise that there was a shortage of chances at both ends.
Lions midfielder Scott Pittman at least had a shot from outside the box saved by Saints keeper Dimitar Mitov two minutes before the break.
Visiting manager Levein, who had earlier lost Max Kucheriavyi to injury, reshuffled his defence at the break, with the experienced Andy Considine being introduced in place of Tony Gallacher.
The game was desperately in need of a goal, but Mikey Devlin's shot at the start of the second half was too straight to trouble Mitov.
Livi were on the attack again shortly after, but once more there was a lack of quality in the finish as Pittman blazed well wide after running onto a lofted pass.
On the hour mark, it was St Johnstone's turn to pass up an opportunity.
The ball was deflected into the path of Clark 12 yards out, but he directed his half-volley straight at George.
With 18 minutes remaining, Saints thought they had finally broken the deadlock when Luke Robinson netted with a first-time shot from a low Clark cross.
But the assistant referee's flag went up for offside and, after a delay, VAR agreed with the decision.
With time running out, Bruce Anderson fired wide for Livi before a shot from Saints substitute Sven Sprangler was blocked by Pittman.
Livingston manager David Martindale:
"I thought we were the ones kicking on to try and get the winner.
"We got info into the players at half-time and they probably created the best three or four chances of the game.
"You look at Pittman's, he has to do better. Bruce had one at the keeper's right-hand post; Mick [Devlin] again - don't hit the target.
"When I look at the chances created I thought we were the team going out in the second half.
"I think there needs to be a bit of individual responsibility on the offensive players, I think they have to be a wee bit more brave and show more composure in the opponents' box.
"I don't want to sound delusional - we're sitting bottom of the league - but I was fairly happy with some of the performances we've had.
"Tonight, we had two or three good opportunities to take something from the game and don't hit the target."
St Johnstone boss Craig Levein:
"It was two teams playing safe football. In the second half, I thought we were a bit better, but it was all too safe for my liking.
"We've done enough in the last seven games where we've had good 15, 30-minute spells and controlled the game.
"But we played the safe ball too many times tonight, and so did Livingston.
"I think subconsciously, if you keep the gap [to the bottom] then that can feel better than losing.
"Maybe both teams had that idea in their heads. It's not something we'd spoken about, but I've been there 100 times and know what it feels like.
"The pressure has been on for all the wrong reasons and I think that's what we saw tonight. It looked to be a reasonable chance [for Devlin].
"We had Luke's goal offside too and Nicky had a chance. I'd like to be talking about more passages of good play, but I'm struggling to."
Livingston's next Scottish Premiership game is away to Motherwell on December 30, kick-off 3pm.
St Johnstone's next match is at Dundee on January 2, kick-off 3pm.
