DREU BLOOD

Tony’s deadly double helps United get revenge on Ton

Two-goal hero Tony Andreu got revenge on Morton – then insisted he couldn’t care less about scoring.

The Frenchman came up trumps for Ray McKinnon’s men, with his second-half brace making amends for his side crashing out of the Betfred Cup at Cappielow in midweek.

On-loan Norwich ace Andreu is fast turning into a fans’ favourite for the Arabs who face title rivals Hibs next Sunday.

But the modest 28-year- old says he’s more interested in restoring United to the top flight than picking up personal plaudits.

Andreu said: “This time it’s me who’s scoring but on another day it could easily be someone else. It doesn’t really matter who scores.

“I’m delighted to score but I just want to do my bit for the team. We’re all in this together. That’s the main thing as we try and get back up.

“It was a difficult game which we needed to win. We got three points which is what is important.” Morton

Dundee Utd ................ 2 Morton........................ 1

Euan McArthur

drew f irst blood on cup duty, prompting United boss McKinnon to fire into his players as he told them they need to find a killer instinct quickly in front of goal.

There were three changes from the side which exited the cup in Greenock as Mark Durnan, Simon Murray and Andreu came in to replace Stewart Murdoch, Scott Fraser and Tope Obadeyi.

Morton arrived on Tayside buoyed by landing a last-four clash with Aberdeen at Hampden and their first semi-final since facing Rangers in the Scottish Cup in 1981.

Former Tangerines defender Gavin Gunning was at the back for Ton as he returned to Tannadice for the first time since his controversial departure in April. It was a slow start from both sides but United created the first opportunity in 17 minutes. Cammy Smith slipped a pass through to Andreu who had only Morton keeper Andrew McNeil to beat – but the Frenchman was thwarted as his shot was blocked. That gave the Taysiders a lift and soon after Frank Van Der Struijk crossed into the box where there were no takers. However, it was the Greenock outfit who came within inches of taking the lead in 38 minutes. The United defence failed to deal with a corner and from the rebound on- loan Celtic ace Aidan Nesbitt’s shot beat Cammy Bell only to come back off the post. From the rebound, Thomas O’Ware struck his shot over the bar f rom 12 yards as McKinnon breathed a sigh of relief. The second half started with United on the offensive and Paul Dixon’s deep cross was met by Blair Spittal, whose back-post shot was deflected wide.

However, the home side made the breakthrough in 64 minutes.

Substitute Obadeyi swung over a cross from the right for Andreu and goalie McNeil couldn’t do enough to keep out the Frenchman’s 12-yard strike.

In the first minute of injury time, Murray’s head-flick on was met by Andreu and he made no mistake with a cool close-range finish to send the home fans crazy.

However, United sub Sean Dillon then netted an own goal when he converted Ross Forbes’ free-kick to give those same fans a late scare in the fourth minute of added time.

United boss McKinnon said: “It was all about the three points after losing to Falkirk last week.

“I’m delighted with Tony. At the moment, he’s worth his weight in gold. We actually played him in a deeper role today because we didn’t have the personnel – but he still popped up with two goals.”