Motherwell 1 – 1 Kilmarnock

12/20/2024 06:10 PM

Ten-man Motherwell had to settle for a point as Kilmarnock came back from a goal behind at Fir Park on Friday night. 

In a dull first half, Liam Gordon's headed goal had the Steelmen ahead until Liam Polworth levelled the scores just before Dan Casey was bizarrely red carded after facing up to Danny Armstrong.

Although the Ayrshire men tried to push home their numerical advantage, the game was evenly balanced as both teams chased a late winner.

Following Saturday's exciting win over Dundee United, Stuart Kettlewell made one change for Kilmarnock's Friday night visit to Fir Park.

For a fixture that is usually a tight encounter, the Well boss brought back the experienced Tony Watt at the expense of Tawanda Maswanhise.

The Steelmen were hoping to replicate the flying start they made against United and within 30 seconds had tested the Killie keeper.

Lennon Miller's free kick found Gordon, and his header found Kieran O'Hara leaping to his right to beat the ball away before play was stopped for offside.

After 18 minutes, the Fir Park men grabbed the lead.

Marvin Kaleta's high ball to the back of the six-yard area was headed back across goal by Casey. The keeper pushed the ball off his line but only as far as Gordon, who slammed it through a ruck of players to make it 1-0.

Sadly, that was about it for first-half goalmouth action as the ball spent an inordinate amount of time in the air as neither team took a commanding hold of the game, with both sides untidy in possession.

Kilmarnock did create one chance, on the half hour mark, when Aston Oxborough made a smart save low to his left to deny Kyle Vassell an equaliser.

In the first decent build-up of the second-half, Motherwell created an opening.

Kaleta carried the ball down the right before passing inside to Watt. His ball into the box found his striking partner Apostolos Stamatelopoulos, who found enough space for a shot that sailed over the bar.

Six minutes later, Oxborough produced another diving save to block Vassell's firm drive.

With 68 minutes played, Kettlewell made a double substitution, bringing on Tom Sparrow and Davor Zdravkovski.

However, it was Killie's double substitution that had an immediate impact on the game when Danny Armstrong's cross fell for Vassell. But once again, Oxborough denied the striker, forcing his shot around the post.

From the resultant corner, the ball found its way to Polworth, and although Oxborough got his hands to the ex-Well man's powerful drive, he couldn't prevent it sneaking inside his right-hand post.

Things got worse for the Steelmen a couple of minutes later when they were reduced to 10 men. Following a VAR check, Casey was shown a red card, incredibly, for violent conduct.

The Well boss then bravely went for three points, bringing on the attack-minded Maswanhise and Moses Ebiye.

Immediately Ebiye was heading towards the box only to be tripped by Joe Wright.

The resultant free kick from Miller had some fans on their feet as his curled effort rippled the side netting with O'Hara scurrying across his goal line.

As the fourth official indicated eight minutes of additional time, the game became an end-to-end affair as both teams pressed for a win.

However, although Motherwell looked the more likely to score until the final whistle, they had to settle for a point to reinforce their hold on fourth place in the league table.

The post Motherwell 1 – 1 Kilmarnock appeared first on Motherwell Football Club.