Dundee Utd2–2Motherwell

Dundee United made one change to side that defeated Ross County 4-2 in Dingwall. Gary Mackay-Steven missed out due to a slight groin injury and was replaced by Ryan Dow in what was United captain Sean Dillon’s 300th appearance for the Tangerines. Stuart McCall also made one change to his side. Stuart Ramsden returned to a starting berth following his suspension replacing James McFadden in the Motherwell starting line up.

Motherwell started the brighter and Zaine Francis-Angol was able to trouble the United defence down the left hand side. On one such occasion the winger’s cross resulted in a corner which Iain Vigurs dispatched low to the edge of the six-yard box. Arriving to head the ball was Stephen McManus. Fortunately for the Terrors, his diving header went wide across the face of the goal. With 15 minutes gone, Motherwell would be the first to test Radoslaw Cierzniak. Keith Lasley and Vigurs interlinked to allow Henri Arnier into the area on the left side. His cross to John Sutton took a deflection off the knee of Sean Dillon. However, Radoslaw Cierzniak was not to be caught out and easily collected the ball in mid-flight. Henri Arnier was not to be denied though and he opened the scoring on the half hour mark. This meant Motherwell went in at half time with a slender one goal lead.

United came storming back at Motherwell in the second half. First Nadir Çiftçi scored a fantastic equaliser and then four minutes later the game was turned on it head. A surging run and shot by Andy Robertson found the net and United were in the lead. With United looking like they might go on to score another four goals like many of their previous matches, Motherwell hit them with a sucker punch. With fourteen minutes remaining Lionel Ainsworth scored a second for the Fir Park side and this meant they returned home with a point from Tannadice.

Match Photos courtesy of Riki Grauer - More photos available at:
Dundee United Official Flickr Page