Three talking points with Motherwell momentum halted as Dundee inflict defeat on afternoon of frustration
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Motherwell lost in their latest Premiership game against Dundee, suffering a 1-0 defeat.
Billy Koumetio missed a header in the only chance of a quiet opening to the game. Lyall Cameron then put Dundee ahead as they sought their first win at Fir Park since 2017.
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Hide AdCurtis Main and Simon Murray then failed to punish a Motherwell side in the second half that were slow to get going overall during this encounter. Lennon Miller had an effort saved in search of a leveller before Jair Tavares missed an opening inside the box. It leaves Motherwell on 13 points and in 5th place in the league table. Dundee are on nine and sit sixth.
Heading into the game after the international break on the back of six wins in seven games, Motherwell had the chance to start pulling away from those below them with another victory, with a Premier Sports Cup semi-final looming into view vs Rangers. They were hit with a blow pre-game with the news captain Paul McGinn would be missing for a chunk of time, including that Rangers match.
An international break put domestic football to sleep for a fortnight and the opening 30 minutes of this suggested some more time to wake up was needed. Back and forth, the teams traded misplaced passes and spells of possession - Dundee with more of them - that resulted in very little. It was all a bit slow and sideways with very little in the way of an attack.
Koumetio probably had the best of the lot in the first 30 minutes. In fact, he had the only real chance of that time, a free-kick into the box headed narrowly wide of Aston Oxborough’s Motherwell post. Most of what the hosts offered got within 25 yards of goal before going amiss.
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Hide AdApostolos Stamatelopoulos had a couple of openings but it did little to threaten former goalkeeper Trevor Carson, now between the Dundee sticks. Some cold water was thrown over Motherwell by Tony Docherty’s visitors, Davor Zdravkovski and Andy Halliday colliding with each other to allow the Dark Blues a break and Cameron the chance to bury past Oxborough.
Two strikers off in Stamatelopoulos and Zach Robinson with Tony Watt and Moses Ebiye on saw Kettlewell try to bring fresh impetus to the Motherwell attack. A wake-up call would no doubt have been sounded too by Kettlewell in the dressing room, with his side needing to get out the blocks sharpish.
Yet it was Dundee who were livelier again and Main almost doubled the Dundee lead, and would have done had it not been for a strong Oxborough hand. Then Murray missed an even bigger one with the ‘Well defence standing still but could only slice wide.
Substitute Tawanda Maswanhise’s blaze over the Dundee bar brought some mild excitement but what it did was give a bit of life to Motherwell. Soon after, their best chance of the match, Miller with a low drive well saved by Carson and Tavares followed up with a slash over the bar.
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Hide AdIn the end it wasn’t a game those in claret and amber could claim to deserve much from, as attentions turn to a crucial week of game which will include Celtic at home next Sunday before a trip to Dundee United and that day at Hampden vs Rangers. Here’s three things we learned.
Slow start
They ended up winning away at Hibs last time out but there were tweaks at half-time after a slow first half. And similar at Pittodrie in defeat to Aberdeen, where the Dons got control of the game before Motherwell grew into the game. The same happened here, where it proved heavy lifting to just get into the game.
Familiar face proves a foe
For a team that crumbled from a winning position late on last time out, you did wonder how Dundee would cope as Motherwell threw what they had at them. The goalkeeping change from Jon McCracken to Carson seemed to work wonders for Dundee. Motherwell know all about him from time at Fir Park and his ability to calm the game down stifled anything his ex-club tried to create.
Tinkering
Kettlewell showed this team has more than one way of setting out. They started with their usual three centre-backs but at the end looked to be playing more of a 4-2-3-1 with an emphasis on attack. In the end, it didn’t really matter, as Motherwell didn’t look like scoring in this game even when they did apply a bit more pressure.
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