Motherwell came out on top of a seven goal thriller at Fir Park to leap Dundee United and claim fourth place in the table.
This game offered thrilling goalmouth action from the first to last minute as both teams served up a pre-Christmas treat. Stuart Kettlewell had to watch this epic from the stand and he would suffer as the ‘Well fans as his side fought to keep ahead of a United side that kept the contest alive right through till the four additional minutes were exhausted.
Stama - man of the match
The home side made three changes from the line-up that delivered three points in Paisley. Tony Watt was ineligible, Jair Tavares and Ewan Wilson were benched as Tawanda Maswanhise, Harry Paton and Marvin Kaleta were promoted.
Patrons have hardly time to take their seats before Motherwell got the high scoring game off the blocks. Apostolos Stamatelopoulos opened his account 47 seconds after the referee got the game underway. Kaleta provided the spark that was not cleared and the hard working striker got his early reward from close range.
The lead lasted all of five minutes before the VAR called Nick Walsh’s attention to an incident inside the ‘Well penalty area while everyone in the stadium expected a corner. Walsh concluded that Louis Moult had been fouled and Sam Dalby converted the unexpected penalty.
The former ‘Well hero almost scored with a header but Aston Oxborough palmed the attempt away. At the other end Maswanhise was lively and flashed a chance wide of Walton’s post.
The home lead was restored on the half hour when good work by Paton pick out Halliday from the dead ball line for a close in finish. The lead became two when Maswanhise’s delightful cross cross allowed Stamatelopoulos to place a a header to the left of the ‘keeper. With a 3-1 lead at the break the home crowd had every reason to be hopeful.
The two goal lead shrank ten minutes after the restart when Dalby poked home in the crowded area. Substitutions followed from both benches.
Moult should have levelled the game but his shot rattled the bar when a more controlled effort would have done the job. Within a minute Motherwell struck again. On the break Stamatelopoulos set up Tom Sparrow and a low drive found the net in front of the Cooper Stand, 4-2.
United threw caution to the wind and with the help of a Kevin Holt header they were, again, within one goal of the ‘Well.
Four additional minutes were negotiated and the final whistle was met with a combination of joy and relief.
A fine afternoon’s entertainment ended with Motherwell ahead of United by a point and in fourth place. With 16 games gone Motherwell are looking good.
Motherwell 4 Dundee United 3
Attendance 4,473
Team: Oxborough, Katela (O’Donnell 69), Casey, Gordon, Blaney, Seddon, Halliday (Wilson 57), Paton (Sparrow 57), Miller, Maswanhise (Ebiye 69), Stamatelopoulos (Nicholson 82)
Saturday 14 December 2024