UECL: St Mirren miss opportunity to take first leg lead
Valur 0 - 0 St Mirren
St Mirren missed several opportunities as they were held to a goalless draw by a 10-man Valur in their first European tie in 37 years.
Watch the video to get the reaction of Stephen Robinson. The video is from the StMirrenFootballClub YouTube account.
Strikers Toyosi Olusanya and Mikael Mandron caused havoc for the home defence but were unable to score in Reykjavik.
The Icelanders also posed a threat in what was a very open game, with goalkeeper Ellery Balcombe impressing on his St Mirren debut.
With 10 minutes left on the clock, Valur's Aron Johannsson received a red card for a last-man foul on Jonah Ayunga.
However, the visitors couldn't capitalise on their numerical advantage during the frantic finish.
St Mirren will be hoping to make better use of their chances in Paisley for the second leg of their Conference League second-round qualifier next Thursday.
Balcombe was called into action in the opening minute, the Brentford loanee making a fine save at his near post.
The first half continued at a frenetic pace. Valur's defence struggled to cope with the threats posed by Olusanya and Mandron, but the pair squandered four excellent chances before the break.
Tryggvi Hararldsson Jonatan Ingi Jonsson both came close for the hosts. However, they didn't change the flow of the game. St Mirren would have been disappointed that they couldn't take advantage. Despite that, the Scottish side would have been confident that they were going to take a first leg lead.
The second half began as energetically as the first, with Balcombe making another two crucial saves.
Olusanya and Mandron missed three more golden opportunities before being substituted by James Scott and Jonah Ayunga.
Substitute Roland Idowu brought fresh energy to the Saints and had a powerful long-range strike superbly saved by Frederik Schram.
It seemed like a breakthrough was imminent when Ayunga broke through, but he was brought down by a clumsy challenge from Johannsson, resulting in a red card.
Fantastic St. Mirren away support in Reykjavik tonight against Valur. Looking forward to the 2nd leg in Paisley next week. pic.twitter.com/kmyaqetBOp
— thepixelcollector ☻ (@craigwhiteford) July 25, 2024
The St Mirren fans created a fantastic atmosphere. They all seem to be very excited about their European adventure.
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