Motherwell 2
Dundee 1
League (Premiership)

Match Report

Dundee went down to a 2-1 defeat at Motherwell tonight. Dan Casey gave Well an early lead and dominated the first half. The Dark Blues improved after half time and Simon Murray scored a late equaliser. However, Motherwell quickly regained the lead with Casey’s second goal and held on to take all three points.

The Dark Blues made four changes from Saturday as they switched to a formation with four at the back. Aaron Donnelly, Mo Sylla, Scott Tiffoney, and Seun Adewumi came in for Antonio Portales, Clark Robertson and Seb Palmer-Houlden who were injured, and Fin Robertson, who was on the bench.

Dundee started slowly and had hardly crossed the halfway line before Motherwell took the lead. Well had all the early play, without creating any real danger apart from a shout for a penalty. In the 12th minute they went ahead with a goal that was sadly typical of the Dee’s season. Dan CASEY was left completely unmarked six yards out to score with a header from Andy Halliday’s corner. It was dreadful defending.

The first quarter of the match was deeply disappointing as Dundee couldn’t build any worthwhile attacks and also looked fragile at the back. Dundee were better in the rest of the half, but were never convincing. There were a few attacks that forced the home defence into action but the Dark Blues couldn’t create any clear chances.

Motherwell always looked more likely to extend their lead than be pegged back. They created some dangerous openings without being able to follow them through. The nearest thing to a second goal before half time came when Jon McCracken had to punch over a fierce 18 yard shot from Callum Slattery.

The Dark Blues improved significantly after half time but it was Well who had the first chance. Tom Sparrow headed wide from Dom Thompson’s cross.

Seven minutes after the restart Joe O’Shaughnessy came on as a straight replacement for Ryan Astley.

Dundee were now more competitive and creative in midfield and started to build promising attacks. Frustratingly, however, despite the improvement there was no end product. Motherwell were always working hard. They kept their shape and denied Dundee easy space whenever the Dee attacked.

After 71 minutes Charlie Reilly replaced Scott Tiffoney, playing wide on the right. Dundee had their best spell of the match pinning Motherwell back and keeping the home side under pressure. For all the Dee’s attacking, however, Well held firm and the Dark Blues couldn’t get a shot on target or even have any close misses.

Finally, the Dee put it together and scored, after 79 minutes. O’Shaughnessy launched a long pass that released Reilly to run in from the right. He slipped the ball past the keeper for Simon MURRAY to shoot into the empty net. After a VAR check for offside the goal was confirmed.

The goal kicked Motherwell back into action and the Dundee defence couldn’t handle the resulting pressure. It took Well five minutes to regain the lead. A corner wasn’t fully cleared and eventually substitute Harry Paton swung over a low cross from the left that CASEY buried on the volley from 12 yards for his second goal of the night.

Dundee threw men forward frantically to try and rescue the game. The ball pinged around the Well penalty area, but Dundee couldn’t get past the resolute home defence. Motherwell launched a few breakaways without taking advantage of a stretched Dee defence. There were seven minutes of added time and Motherwell held on.

Motherwell have been on a bad run recently. They weren’t particularly impressive tonight in the sense of playing pretty football, but their defending was consistently better than the Dark Blues and they did impress with their effort, teamwork, and determination to make life difficult for Dundee both on the ball and without it. That’s the only way to snap out of a dismal run of form.

Match report written by James Christie - Official Dundee website