Roland Idowu scored the winner from the penalty spot to give St Mirren a 3-2 win over St Johnstone in the Premiership as they moved back into the top six.
Mark O’Hara’s spot-kick was saved by Josh Ray but VAR alerted referee Ewan Anderson that he was off his line early and, at the restart, Idowu, on loan from Shrewsbury, sent Ray the wrong way to secure maximum points.
The Paisley side have won just once and scored twice in their 10 visits to MacDiarmid Park since promotion in 2018.
The game looked set to be another underwhelming result for Perth as Mackenzie Kirk and Benji Kimpioka returned to score for the home side.
Killian Phillips gave St Mirren the lead after 10 minutes, but lost momentum in the second period.
However, 17-year-old Evan Mooney came off the bench to score in only his second substitute game to cap a dramatic finish.
As St Mirren took all three points
Home boss Simo Valakari, who is without the suspended Sven Sprangler, brought in Adama Sidibe as his only change as he revamped his system to use a three-man attack.
Despite that firepower, they were unable to threaten the visitors’ defense and Alex Iacoviti made his first appearance since August.
Michael Mandron replaced Toyosi Olusanya in attack as St Mirren boss Steven Robinson struggled to overcome a lack of creativity and clinical touch in the final third in recent weeks.
Both issues were resolved quickly. Mandron created space to pick up and roll for 22 yards, and made a perfect pass to match Phillips’ run.
St Johnstone’s hands went up to claim offside, but the Irishman timed it just right to curl a low finish past Ray.
At half-time, Valakari made a straight swap with David Keltjens, who replaced Lewis Nilsson at right-back.
It took just seven minutes for the Israel international to make an impact, with Nicky Clarke missing the pass.
The St Johnstone captain connected with a darting diagonal run from Kirk, who finished off Ellery Balcombe’s reach with a terrific low finish for his third goal in five games.
Luke Kenny, 21, made his first Premier League appearance for the Buddies after Richard Taylor was carried off on a stretcher.
Phillips skied over to create a great chance for St Mirren and at the opposite end there was no-nonsense work from Sidibe and Kimpioka.
However, Swede Kimpioka made amends to put Perth Saints in front. Dray Wright’s determination kept St Johnstone in attack mode and he played down the left through Kimpioka.
A great first touch took him past the defenders and he fired into the roof of the net.
The hosts’ defensive lapses returned, however, and they could not hold on.
Goalkeeper Ray unconvincingly punched a routine ball into the box and Mooney headed home the equaliser.
In stoppage time VAR awarded a penalty for handball by Jason Holt and Idowu succeeded where O’Hara had failed nine minutes into the opening 90 minutes.
