Motherwell’s challenge in the Scottish Premiership suffered a blow as they went down 2-1 to Dundee at Dens Park.
Finlay Robertson’s close-range finish in the 84th minute settled the contest, handing Motherwell their fourth league defeat of the season and only their second since October. Callum Slattery had pulled the visitors level with a superb long-range free-kick six minutes earlier after Tony Yogane had given Dundee a surprise lead in the first half.
Jens Berthel Askou’s side controlled much of the match, enjoying roughly two-thirds of possession and registering nine of their 21 attempts on target. Despite that dominance, goalkeeper Jon McCracken produced a string of important saves to frustrate Motherwell and blunt what would have been a valuable game in hand on the top three. A win would have offered a chance to move into second ahead of next weekend’s trip to Celtic Park; instead Motherwell remain 10 points shy of leaders Hearts and are now closer to Hibernian in fifth.
Motherwell began to take control after a careful opening and created a steady stream of chances. Tawanda Maswanhise ran in behind Dundee’s defence and forced a block from McCracken, who then held a long-range strike from Elliot Watt at the second attempt. Lukas Fadinger saw a chance stopped then fired off target, and the visitors looked the more likely scorers for long periods.
Dundee broke the pattern in the 32nd minute. A series of crosses from both wings unsettled Motherwell and Yogane tucked home from close range following a Drey Wright delivery. The visitors had conceded only three goals in their previous 16 league matches, and almost conceded again immediately when Yogane headed wide with Calum Ward off his line.
Fadinger was withdrawn after a head knock and Oscar Priestman came on. At the break Askou introduced Tom Sparrow and Eythor Bjorgolfsson to add urgency. Dundee had a goal ruled out for offside when substitute Ashley Hay reacted to a loose ball, and Askou then made the bold switch of bringing on winger Regan Charles-Cook for left-back Emmanuel Longelo. That change left space which Cameron Congreve nearly exploited with a dipping effort that struck the bar.
Motherwell finally found a leveller when Slattery curled a 30-yard free-kick into the net, but moments later Joe Westley got behind the defence and squared for Robertson to restore Dundee’s lead. McCracken denied further attempts from Slattery and Maswanhise as Motherwell’s late push came up short.
The defeat means Motherwell must regroup quickly if they are to remain a factor in the run-in; a missed opportunity to cash in on their fixture in hand leaves them with work to do.