St Johnstone 1 – 0 Motherwell
01/18/2025 02:03 PM
Mothewell exited the Scottish Cup after a 1-0 defeat in Perth.
Mackenzie Kirk’s first-half strike was enough for the home side to progress, as the Steelmen put on a largely toothless display.
Manager Stuart Kettlewell made four changes from the side that were defeated by Hibernian in the Scottish capital a week ago. Defender Dan Casey returned to the starting XI, replacing the injured skipper Paul McGinn, with Marvin Kaleta, Sam Nicholson and Tawanda Maswanhise all returning to complete the line-up.
Motherwell struggled to find any sort of rhythm or foothold in the contest before finding themselves behind within the opening 10-minutes, as the hosts capitalised on a threatening Graham Carey set-piece.
Striker Tawanda Maswanhise couldn’t make the most of a promising opportunity to equalise in the first half, sending a weak shot towards Andy Fisher, while some poor defending from the home side almost allowed the visitors back into the tie.
Shortly thereafter, Motherwell goalkeeper Archie Mair thwarted debutant Victor Griffith’s attempt to extend the lead, as Motherwell held out for the half-time break.
The Steelmen couldn’t rejuvenate themselves in the second-half, as Saints continued to pressurise the Motherwell backline.
After turning provider for the opening goal, Carey almost found himself on the scoresheet within the opening minutes of the second-half, striking the right post of Mair’s goal in a moment of fortune for the visiting side.
An injury-stricken Motherwell seemed a mere shadow of their best, as they continually failed to capitalise on the passive St. Johnstone backline, who were looking to only defend their one-goal advantage. Motherwell pushed forward, but couldn’t create any significant goalscoring chances of note.
Motherwell showed glimmers of improvement after halftime, but even with a late surge, they couldn’t prevent St Johnstone from achieving their first win since November 23, as the steelmen exited the Scottish Cup in the Fourth Round.
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