St Mirren go top after late leveller against Livingston

Luiyi de Lucas' first ever Livingston goal looked destined to be the winner - until Nahmani's late header

St Mirren moved to the top of the Scottish Premiership table with a dramatic late draw with Livingston in West Lothian.

But Luiyi De Lucas' late tap-in, following Mohammed Sangare's cut-back, looked like consigning stuttering St Mirren to defeat for the first time this season.

That all changed though when Stav Nahmani's 95th-minute equaliser gave both sides a share of the points.

The Buddies move a point ahead of Celtic and Motherwell before their games tomorrow, while Livingston sit seventh.

• Follow text & radio coverage
• Keep up to date with Livingston
• The latest St Mirren news

The fact both sides remained unchanged suggested both managers were more than happy with their line-ups after strong showings last weekend.

But up until the final few moments David Martindale and Stephen Robinson cut frustrated figures on the touchline as their charges failed to take control of a scrappy game.

There was very little rhythm to a stop-start match, which threatened to be overshadowed by a nasty-looking head injury to Andrew Shinnie. Thankfully, the Livi midfielder appeared at half-time to give a thumbs up to a nervous crowd.

As the game entered stoppage-time it appeared De Lucas' first-ever Livingston goal would be the winner in a match in which neither side had truly done enough to merit victory. The Dominican Republic international showed predatory instincts to arrive at the front post and knock in Sangare's cut-back.

But this St Mirren team refuses to give in and when Ryan Strain clipped a cross to the back post, Alex Gogic knocked it back in and Nahmani ghosted in to nod past a helpless Shamal George.

Player of the Match - Jamie Brandon (Livingston)

Charging up and down the right, it was an all-action performance from the wing-back.

Dreadful game, dramatic end - analysis

Both sides were "lucky to have nil" at half-time, according to BBC pundit Stephen Craigan.

That might have been a little harsh, but there was only one chance in that half that might make the Sportscene highlights - a header from Greg Kiltie that George did well to save.

Perhaps this was simply a case of two evenly-matched teams cancelling each other out, and the sticky, dry plastic pitch didn't help matters either.

As a result, both sides repeatedly lofted the ball skyward, and both goals came from lumps into the box from free-kicks.

Ultimately, this was more a show of character than football, and two tough-to-beat teams couldn't be beaten.

What's next?

Livingston visit Ross County on Saturday, 16 September, while St Mirren face the shorter trip to Motherwell on the same day (both 15:00 BST).