Clinical Keena is spot on as Saints add to Derry's early struggles
KEEN AND ABLE: Aidan Keena of St Patrick's Athletic celebrates after scoring his side's first goal, from a penalty, during the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division match between St Patrick's Athletic and Derry City at Richmond Park in Dublin Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
An Aidan Keena brace from the spot brought him to five league goals already as St Patrick's eased past toothless, ten-man Derry.
The visitors' spending spree in the off-season had people talking south of the border but City have now lost three of their first four, with the hosts rarely feeling threatened in Inchicore.
Keena's 16th-minute opener resulted from the Saints' first attack and, by the time he doubled his tally midway through the second half, the contest was a thing of the past.
A forgettable first half saw few chances and the game was rendered a rather obsolete contest just after the restart as Carl Winchester saw red for a challenge on Mason Melia. Derry's title hopes imploded on their last visit here in late October and this defeat looks damaging even so early in the 2025 campaign.
Pat's were already minus three central midfielders in Jamie Lennon, Romal Palmer and the suspended Barry Baggley so manager Stephen Kenny had no option but to play a notably attacking side. City had their own issues. Four of their starting 11 here are newcomers to the League of Ireland. They will need time but do they have it?
With the atmosphere somewhat subdued, as it often is on Monday-night matches, Saints' opening reflected that with Derry owning the ball in the first 15 minutes. Yet they created nothing and were opened up with ease prior to the first of a pair of penalties.
Mark Connolly had a clear pull on Keena but the Mullingar native stayed on his feet and played in Melia, who was taken down by Ben Doherty, the defender arguably lucky not to see red. Keena was precise with his spot-kick, befitting a man high on confidence.
Chris Forrester, who marked his 300th Saints appearance with a goal on Friday against Sligo, brilliantly won the ball back midway through the half and found Keena, who stung the palm of Brian Maher.
From the corner that resulted, Derry broke well and had three-on-one at one point but Michael Duffy was forced wide and the ball was cleared.
Just shy of 40 minutes, Axel Sjoberg, who impressed, squared to Elbouzedi. He blazed over when he had ample time to get his accuracy right.
Whistler Gavin Colfer's decision to send off Winchester was controversial. The Belfast native attempted to rob Melia around the centre circle and connected with the Tottenham-bound striker but Pat's players reacted with a clamour for red and Colfer went for the back pocket.
Jay McClelland hoped to kill the game off on 54 minutes but his effort from around 25 yard whizzed wide. On 67 minutes, Saints fans knew the game was up as Keena went over when clipped by makeshift right-back Adam O'Reilly after a beautiful, disguised Forrester pass.
Keena made no error from the spot, again slamming home to Maher's right. Derry were down and out.
J Anang; A Sjoberg, T Grivosti, J Redmond, A Breslin; Z Elbouzedi (A Kazeem 88), C Forrester, J McClelland, J Mulraney (S Power 70); M Melia (C Carty 88), A Keena (B Kavanagh 78).
B Maher; A O'Reilly, M Connolly, K Holt, B Doherty; P McMullan (S Todd 56), S Diallo, C Winchester, M Duffy (D Mullen 73); G Whyte (C Harkin 56), P Hoban (Seán Patton 65).
Gavin Colfer (Wicklow).
4,476.
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