Motherwell vs Dundee. Scottish Premiership.
Fir ParkAttendance5,084.
Report as Dundee edge Motherwell to take all three points
Saturday 19 October 2024 21:18, UK
Dundee earned their first victory in six matches after edging out Motherwell 1-0 in a scrappy encounter at Fir Park.
Lyall Cameron powered home the only goal of the game in the 37th minute.
The home side pressed for a leveller in the closing stages but found opportunities at a premium.
A first away success of the season lifts Dundee into the top half of the Premiership table, while Well drop to fifth.
Tony Docherty shuffled his pack following Dundee's late collapse in their 3-2 defeat to Kilmarnock last time out.
The Dees boss made four changes, including a change in goal as Trevor Carson replaced Jon McCracken.
Motherwell were forced to make one change as they aimed to record their fourth successive win in all competitions, injured skipper Paul McGinn making way for Dan Casey.
A crucial tackle from Clark Robertson prevented Zach Robinson from latching on to Andy Halliday's through ball in the opening minutes.
The hosts were almost the architects of their own downfall when some slack play between Lennon Miller and Liam Gordon allowed Simon Murray to advance into a promising position - but his low shot was comfortably gathered by Aston Oxborough.
Motherwell were looking threatening and Apostolos Stamatelopoulos' header from Miller's cross snuck inches wide of the target.
Having already played a key role in keeping the hosts out, Robertson really should have broken the deadlock at the other end in the 15th minute.
The home defence were caught cold at a corner, allowing the defender to meet Murray's knock-down before blasting over the top.
Most of Dundee's threat was coming from set-piece situations, with the hosts struggling to combat their physical approach. Scott Fraser's free-kick allowed Billy Koumetio to ghost in at the back post and nod the ball inches past the post.
The opening goal arrived seven minutes before the break. Murray's header was brilliantly blocked by Ewan Murray, though Cameron was on hand to slam home the rebound.
Stuart Kettlewell changed up his forward line at half-time, introducing Moses Ebiye and Tony Watt for Robinson and Stamatelopoulos.
However, the momentum continued to be with the Dark Blues. A rasping drive by Curtis Main forced a brilliant reaction save from Oxborough.
Next to go close was Murray, who failed to find the target after breaching the Well back-line - dragging his strike wide.
After a quiet first hour, Miller almost played a part in dragging the Steelmen level when he picked out Ebiye who failed to make a proper connection with his glancing header.
The youngster had an effort of his own with 17 minutes remaining - a powerful drive that forced Carson to throw himself across his goal and punch to safety.
The Dee goal was living a charmed life as the game entered the final 10 minutes. Jair Tavares passed up a golden opportunity when he blazed over after the away defence failed to clear their lines, before Gordon had a weak effort smothered by the goalkeeper.
Seven minutes of added time brought some renewed energy among the home fans, though a laboured ending brought little in the way of chances.
Dundee manager Tony Docherty:
"I think the players deserve a huge amount of credit for getting the reward they've deserved for quite a while.
"I've been really pleased with the performance levels, but more pleasing than that, we went into an international break where we had to reset.
"I think through a season you get different types of wins - that was a big win. It was documented that going into the international break, we had a couple of losses that we had to respond to.
"We've learned our lesson from the previous game and that performance against a good team away from home displayed everything."
Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell: "I think Dundee deserved to win the game, I'm not going to try mask around it.
"We weren't anything close to what we have been to get a really good start to the season and looked a little bit dazed in our decision making and our quality.
"Even in moments towards the end of the first half in particular with our defending, it looked a little bit chaotic at times.
"I don't feel we created enough to merit staking a claim for saying we deserved to take anything from the game - I expect better from what the players have shown to this point."
