MOTHERWELL GUARANTEE THEIR TOP-FLIGHT STATUS WITH COMEBACK WIN
WELL, it’s official; Motherwell, who had to wait until the penultimate round of fixtures to retain their top-tier status last season, cannot be relegated. Dundee, though, are now only four points clear of second-bottom Partick Thistle with three games remaining.
Their cause was hardly helped by injuries to key players at the start of each half, which ripped up manager Neil McCann’s game plan and limited his options from the bench later in the game.
Spectators were still filtering into the stadium when Dundee squandered a glorious opportunity after just 15 seconds. Simon Murray’s cross from the right picked out Craig Wighton at the far post but he sent his free header wide from point-blank range.
Just three minutes later, Dundee lost top scorer Soufien Moussa, who limped off after landing badly. Then Ryan Bowman watched his glancing header from Chris Cadden’s cross come back off a post and the striker nodded the rebound straight at Elliot Parish.
It was end-to-end stuff in a breathless opening period and Trevor Carson did well to beat away Murray’s angled drive in the 15th minute. The Irishman also had to look lively to touch a Steven Caulker header over his bar as it threatened to dip under it.
Curtis Main had a decent half-chance when a Cadden shot was deflected benignly into his path but the striker sliced his volley hopelessly wide, a miss which became more painful when Dundee broke the deadlock shortly afterwards.
Caulker, dominant in the air, headed a Paul McGowan corner towards the far post and Genseric Kusunga bravely threw himself in front of the home defenders to force the ball over the line.
However, the visitors’ lead lasted only five minutes, Motherwell equalising from a corner of their own, Cadden’s delivery finding Charles
Dunne, who knocked it back for Bowman to head home his ninth goal of the campaign. Unfortunately for the target man, his game ended four minutes from the interval when he was injured by Kusunga falling on top of him.
Kusunga did not last much longer. The Angolan collapsed on the pitch before the start of the second half and had to leave the field on a stretcher, leading to an eight-minute delay.
‘Thankfully, the overriding feeling is that he’s going to be okay because it’s not great when you see a player sit down like that,’ said McCann.
‘I went over to see him and he looked absolutely gone. He was like a boxer; his eyes were gone, he was having chest pains and was struggling to breathe — I think as a result of the impact when he got our goal, when he took one on the chest.
‘The doctor is satisfied that it isn’t anything sinister, which was my worry, but he’s lucid again and seems to be okay.
‘He spoke to the doctor at half-time about pains in his chest.’
The big defender was missed when the hosts moved in front.
Glen Kamara fouled Main on the touchline, Cadden floated in the resulting free-kick and Cedric Kipre bulleted home a header at the back stick.
Dundee’s response to falling behind was disappointing but substitute A-Jay Leitch-Smith could have equalised in the 67th minute.
Sent clear by Cammy Kerr’s incisive through ball, the striker’s heavy first touch took him too far wide and his shot was easily saved by Carson.
Mark O’Hara was equally wasteful in the 88th minute, ballooning his shot over the bar after Caulker, by then playing up front, had won another aerial battle.
The match ended with McGowan squaring up to Gael Bigirimana (he had previously been booked for a foul on the same player) and being hauled away from Stephen Robinson, while McCann exchanged words with referee Nick Walsh.
Fir Park boss Robinson played down the incident.
‘I was trying to pull people away. I was peacekeeper and making sure nobody got in any kind of trouble,’ he said. But he was happy with the win. ‘It would have taken a minor miracle for us to go down but I can sleep a bit easier tonight,’ he added. ‘We have to continue in the next three games to solidify seventh.
‘It’s a competitive league. Everyone is looking over their shoulder until it’s mathematically certain.
‘From the top four down there is not a lot of difference between the squads.
‘This was a satisfying victory. We came from behind, which was a big aspect of it, after losing a goal slightly against the run of play.’