Game of the season in Premiership's opening weekend?

What the report says

Newly promoted St Johnstone produced one of the Scottish Premiership’s most dramatic opening-weekend matches, beating Kilmarnock 4-3 in Perth in a seven-goal thriller. BBC Sport reported that the game changed hands twice and featured late attacking changes from St Johnstone manager Simo Valakari, who used fresh forwards after his side fell behind. The result gave St Johnstone an immediate lift after a summer of discussion over squad strength and whether they had done enough business before returning to the top flight.

The BBC said the Saints began brightly, with Josh Fowler opening the scoring after a move involving Ruari Paton and Jamie Gullan. Kilmarnock responded and even moved ahead, but St Johnstone kept pressing and eventually won it through an own goal by Jason Holt and a decisive strike from Kai Fotheringham. The match was described by BBC pundits as an early contender for game of the season.

The report also noted that St Johnstone had been prolific in winning last season’s Scottish Championship, while Kilmarnock arrived with a solid defensive reputation but looked vulnerable again here. Valakari said before and after the match that his team needed to be “solid and streetwise” and that there could still be difficult moments ahead. For Kilmarnock, manager Neil McCann said his side had let themselves and their supporters down.