First Team
Match Report | Rangers 1-1 Dundee United
23rd November 2024
United finally returned to home soil after three away matches on the spin, Motherwell the visitors to a frosty Tannadice. The Terrors headed into the game in the knowledge a victory, along with other results elsewhere going their way, would see them finish the evening in the Europa Conference League spot.
The Gaffer made three changes to the side which was unable to find a way past ten-man St Johnstone on Saturday, with Ilmari Niskanen, Marc McNulty and Kevin McDonald, making his first start for the club, all preferred over Peter Pawlett, Nicky Clark and Tim Akinola.
United setup with an unfamiliar 3-4-1-2, Ian Harkes pushed forward into the ten role behind the strike partnership of Tony Watt and Marc McNulty who looked to make piercing runs in behind.
The home side survived an early scare when Sean Goss decided to go for goal from all of 30 yards after the ball fell to him following an attempted long pass from kick-off, his shot cannoning back off the bar. In the scramble to the rebound, United conceded a free-kick in a threatening position which Goss whipped onto the roof of the net.
The main theme of the first half was second balls, which the energetic Harkes looked to capitalise on when speculative passes into the channels were inevitably headed half-clear. This allowed the American to receive the ball in an advanced position whilst still having the game ahead of him. Motherwell also looked to go long, in particular trying to exploit the space in between Niskanen and Ross Graham on the right.
After ten minutes, Ian Harkes found space in the middle of the park to thread a perfectly-weighted pass in behind the ‘Well defence for McNulty to latch onto. The striker outpaced Juhani Ojala and went one-on-one with Liam Kelly but could only find the outside of the post of with his strike.
Dylan Levitt was then the beneficiary of strong hold-up play from Harkes, giving the Welshman time to stroke the ball into the advancing Niskanen who was thwarted by a fabulous recovery challenge from Bevis Mugabi as he bore down on goal.
Callum Slattery was the recipient of a half-chance for the visitors immediately following the action at the other end, miscuing a header wide after being picked out by Kaiyne Woolery.
United were nearly architects of their own downfall on the 24th minute, as Ryan Edwards strolled out of defence and inadvertently gifted the ball straight to Slattery. He then rolled it into Joeseph Efford and, despite having options to his left and right, the Motherwell forward slashed his shot high into the Shed.
On the half-hour mark, United’s persistence paid off, and in spectacular fashion. Watt drove to the by-line and sent the ball across the box, Mugabi heading it clear only as far as Levitt who sent an outrageous, first-time volley thundering towards the top corner, Kelly absolutely helpless.
This stunning goal proved to be the last action of the first-half as the action petered out, perhaps Motherwell shellshocked as to the quality of the strike.
The second 45 began with both sides repeatedly surrendering the ball cheaply to each other, but neither side kept their composure long enough to capitalise on the gifted possession, countless throw-ins and free-kicks turning the match into a stop-start affair.
A stramash in the goalmouth which was preceded by a wide free-kick led to the ball sitting up perfectly for Slattery 18 yards out who sent a side-footed effort goalward, the inevitable Calum Butcher sticking out a leg to deflect it to safety.
Exactly half an hour after drawing first blood, United doubled their advantage. Niskanen skipped beyond Mugabi gracefully before darting away from Nathan McGinley and driving down the line. The Finn just caught the ball at the line and leathered it across the six-yard line for former Motherwell hero Watt to turn home on the slide, giving his side breathing space.
Following the goal, Motherwell began to carve out a few opportunities to get themselves back into the match. Slattery sent a volley swerving wide of Benji Siegrist’s post and then substitute Ross Tierney forced the Swiss to punch away his looping header from close-range. From the resultant corner, Sondre Solholm diverted his effort onto the roof of the net at the back stick.
Nicky Clark almost came off the bench to great effect once again as he found himself teed up by McNulty who held off the challenge of Solholm in the box but overcooked the shot from 15 yards.
Graham Alexander’s side spurned a golden chance to get on the scoresheet as the clock ticked onto the 79th minute. Kevin van Veen ran parallel to the area and struck for goal, Siegrist down quickly to parry the ball away. However, the save fell kindly for Goss who arrived on the scene to wastefully blast it into the Eddie Thompson, Tannadice breathing a collective sigh of relief.
There was still time for history to be made deep into stoppage time, as Rory MacLeod, aged just 16 years and six days old entered the fray, becoming Dundee United’s youngest ever player.
The final whistle sounded to conclude a highly enjoyable evening on Tayside and push the Terrors up to fourth in the cinch Premiership ahead of our Scottish Cup tie against Partick Thistle on Saturday.
