Motherwell suffered a rare loss as a
late Dundee goal gave the home side a 2-1 win at Dens Park.
Despite having the majority of
possession Motherwell created few clear cut chances and the rest were saved by Jon
McCracken. The ‘Well defence lacked its
usual confidence and Callum Ward had to scramble on a few occasions to recover
from careless touches.
The game started in what has become the
normal fashion as Motherwell camped in the opposition half. Dundee seemed content to soak up pressure before
exploiting any breaks from the back.
Tawanda Maswanhise and Lukas Fadinger
tested the keeper before McCracken prevented the opener following a tussle in
his six yard box that Fadinger should have dispatched. Dundee survived and took the lead against the
run of play.
A chipped ball to the far post was
headed down by Tony Yogane despite the attentions of a couple of
defenders. Ward was unable to stop the
ball crawling over the line.
Fadinger had to be replaced by Oscar
Priestman after a face knock. Maswanhise had a shot on target but a flying save
gave the home side the advantage at the break.
Jens Berthel Askou introduced Eythor
Bjorgolfsson and Tom Sparrow at the start of the second half and the Steelmen
picked up the attack. Sparrow soon
delivered a cross but Eli Just did not meet it.
There was a feeling that Motherwell
were short of their usual speed and swagger and that was reinforced as Callum
Slattery and Elliot Watt saw attempts fly wild and high over the goal.
Slattery had a couple of chances from
perfectly positioned free kicks and the second of those struck gold in 77 minutes. His twenty five yard effort flew into
McCracken’s top right corner. The goal gave
hope to the big away support and the volume grew in anticipation of a late revival.
Alas with five minutes remaining
Dundee found space down the right wing and Joe Westley fired across the box to
give Fin Robertson an easy finish.
Dundee’s tactics won the day. They
defended deep and restricted Motherwell’s opportunities. For all the passes in and around their area there
were too few shots on target.
After only a fourth league defeat
Motherwell will look to return to the fray at Parkhead next week.
Dundee 2 Motherwell 1
Attendance
6,304
Team:
Ward, O’Donnell (Sparrow 45), McGinn, Welsh, Longelo(Charlees-Cook 66), Fadinger
(Priestman 37 (Nicholson 85), Watt, Slattery, Just, Saidn(Bjorgolfsson 45),
Maswanhise
Saturday
7 March 2026
