DUTV
STORY OF THE MATCH | MOTHERWELL (A)
16th December 2024
United were on the wrong side of a seven-goal contest in North Lanarkshire.
Motherwell 4 (Stamatelopoulos 1' 40', Halliday 33', Sparrow 67')
Dundee United 3 (Dalby 7' pen 54', Moult 87')
3pm Saturday 14 December 2024
Fir Park Stadium
William Hill Premiership
Attendance: 4,473 (837 away)
Team News
Jim Goodwin made just one change following our draw with Kilmarnock last weekend.
It was an enforced one at that, as Will Ferry missed out through an accumulation of yellow cards and was replaced on the flank by Glenn Middleton.
A Frantic Start
Two strikes in the opening eight minutes started the barrage of goals that was to follow.
The hosts were ahead in no time - Apostolos Stamatelopoulos netting inside 50 seconds as he poked home Marvin Kaleta's fizzed cross.
Unspooked by the opener, United hit back almost immediately as Liam Gordon was penalised for bringing down Louis Moult, who had smartly nipped ahead of him to meet Middleton's cross. After a quick trip to the monitor, Nick Walsh pointed to the spot. Sam Dalby stepped up with ice-cold composure, rolling the ball down the throat to claim his seventh goal of the season and move top of the Premiership scoring charts.
Moult almost came back to haunt his former side once more as a neat United move almost finished with him heading home - but Aston Oxborough was equal to it.
The hosts twice went close to re-taking the lead as Tawanda Maswanhise dragged an effort just wide of the far post before Stamatelopoulos almost bagged a brace after connecting with Andy Halliday's cross but firing wide.
Behind and then some
The home side didn’t have to wait much longer to retake the lead, as Halliday struck on 33 minutes. Exploiting some slack defending, the ball was driven across the goal, and Halliday was on hand to tap it home at the near post amidst a scramble of bodies.
Our woes were added to as Stamatelopoulos did get his second five minutes out from the break. Again it was all too easy as Maswanhise picked out the Australian unmarked inside the area and he glanced beyond Walton to give the Fir Park side clear daylight.
Looking for a Response
Just ten minutes after the restart we had our lifeline - once again through Dalby.
Middleton was the provider again as his deflected cross soared high into the box and our number 19 rose highest to nod home in front of the Shed End.
Oxborough denied Dalby his hat-trick with a superb low save, reacting sharply to the on-loan Wrexham man’s powerful header as Moult picked him out with a teasing cross to the back post. Lady luck continued to stand in our way as Moult connected perfectly with Middleton’s pinpoint cut-back, Oxborough again on hand to tip a fierce effort onto the crossbar.
We paid for our missed chances as the resultant Motherwell counter was smartly arrowed home by the outside of Tom Sparrow's boot - albeit it looked like a certain handball in the buildup...
Rolling the Dice
Jort van der Sande, Kristijan Trapanovski and Kai Fotheringham all entered the fray as we searched for a route back.
Another lifeline did fall as Moult bulleted home a header just shy of three minutes from time but there was no crescendo as we suffered only our second league defeat on the road.
Own a Piece of the Game
Post-Match Thoughts
?? Uncharacteristic errors costly
— Dundee United FC (@dundeeunitedfc) December 14, 2024
?? Attacking intent faultless
?? Left nothing out there
?? Ups and downs inevitable#DUFC Manager Jim Goodwin gives his post-match breakdown of this afternoon's @WilliamHill Premiership action at Fir Park ???????? pic.twitter.com/KnWyPgPnwg
Next Up
Celtic visit Tanndice next Sunday in our final clash this side of Christmas!
