Kilmarnock 2-2 St Johnstone: St Johnstone fight back from Toby Steward's early dismissal to take point at Kilmarnock
Report as St Johnstone fight back from Toby Steward's early dismissal to take a point away at Kilmarnock in an entertaining Scottish Premiership affair
Saturday 31 October 2026 20:31, UK
St Johnstone battled to a terrific 2-2 draw with 10 men as Kilmarnock's woes continued.
Simo Valakari's side were at a disadvantage from the 13th minute following the dismissal of goalkeeper Toby Steward for handling outside of his area.
Yet despite going behind immediately after the red card to Cathal McCarthy's first goal, Saints were never out of the game.
They levelled through Danny Schmidt after 40 minutes, only for Djenairo Daniels to restore the home lead before half-time.
However, a breakaway goal from Joel Cotterill after 65 minutes was enough to claim an unlikely point.
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The game was turned on its head after just 10 minutes when Steward was sent off following a costly error. The on-loan Portsmouth goalkeeper came rushing out of his penalty area to deal with a long ball, with Joe Hugill bearing down on goal.
Steward appeared to have time to take a step back before gathering the ball, but VAR advised referee Matthew MacDermid to review the incident for a denial of a goalscoring opportunity. The goalkeeper was shown a red card.
Sinclair, brought on in place of Taylor Steven, was immediately thrown into the action and had to pick the ball out of his net with his first touch.
From the resulting set-piece, Kilmarnock worked the ball for Greg Kiltie to deliver an inswinging cross, which McCarthy met six yards out with a header to score the first goal of his loan spell from Hull City.
Daniels thought he had doubled the lead after 31 minutes from a tight angle before an offside flag foiled him.
Kilmarnock's defensive problems first came back to bite them, even with the personnel advantage, five minutes before half-time.
Josh Fowler was denied by an excellent fingertip stop by German keeper Nico Mantl but, from the corner, Enes Alic's delivery was headed into the far corner by an unmarked Schmidt.
Kilmarnock did not dwell on their misfortune and hit straight back. Hugill scampered up the left flank and his cutback was buried by a brilliant backheel flick from Daniels.
Aaron Tshibola missed a golden opportunity to put Saints to bed after 63 minutes. Hugill's brilliant backheel sent the DR Congo international through on goal, but his weak effort was straight at Sinclair.
Saints stunned Killie just two minutes later to level the scores once more.
The equaliser came after Kilmarnock's corner broke down, allowing Alic to pick out Cotterill with an excellent pass. The Welshman burst beyond two defenders before drilling a low finish into the net to make it 2-2.
Nicky Clescenco came within inches of restoring Killie's lead after Tyreece John-Jules robbed Diabate of possession.
Sinclair then kept Saints in the game, first pushing away George Stanger's effort before producing a superb reflex save to deny John-Jules from close range as Kilmarnock continued to search for a winner.
What the managers said...
St Johnstone boss Simo Valakari:
"Toby has held his hands up and said: 'I am sorry, boys, for what I did.'
"But our team did it for Toby, the boys did it for Taylor (Steven), who I needed to take out straight away.
"We are all here playing for each other. We have got each other's backs when things happen. That tells me my players are ready to accept any responsibility.
"Early red card, with Toby that's my tactical choice. I ask my keeper to play very high, like a 'sweeper keeper' for those long balls.
"In those moments, for a year, Toby has been fantastic in clearing the ball, reading the ball. It's a thin line, a little outside the box, that can happen."
Kilmarnock manager Neil McCann:
"The quality evaded us. We're in a 2-1 lead and we concede from our set-piece - that's not good enough against 10 men.
"It's really painful because we do a lot of work on set-pieces. It feels like a defeat. Even though we've taken a point, it's like we've thrown away two.
"I completely understand why the fans are angry because I am too. We had lots of control in the game but that Achilles heel of chucking up soft goals is something that's plaguing us right now."
