Lukas Fadinger's penalty was enough to secure three points for MotherwellSNS

Lukas Fadinger's penalty was enough to secure three points for Motherwell

At a glance

  • Fadinger scores from penalty spot after Fieldson handball

  • Maswanhise and Said earlier missed big chances for Motherwell

  • Fir Park side end seven-game losing run

Charlotte Cohen
BBC Sport Scotland

Lukas Fadinger's penalty helped Motherwell to a first Scottish Premiership win in almost two months despite missing a glut of chances against St Mirren.

The Austrian midfielder drilled his spot kick low into the bottom corner after St Mirren's Henry Fieldson was penalised for a handball in his own box after referee Don Robertson was called over to consult the monitor.

The victory was no more than Motherwell deserved, given the number of opportunities they passed up.

Tawanda Maswanhise and Ibrahim Said both missed chances to put them ahead in the first half, the latter also passed up a good opening in the second half.

Fortunately for the hosts, St Mirren hardly threatened.

They had just one shot in the first half when Eseosa Sule fired well wide and, although they managed four in the second half, only one was on target.

The victory moves Motherwell to within one place - and two points - of St Mirren as they now sit ninth in the Premiership table.

Motherwell analysis: Much-need win despite wasteful display

Motherwell expected goalsOpta

Despite the chances Motherwell created - 11 shots over 90 minutes - it looked for most of the game that their seven-game winless run was going to extend to eight.

Manager Alfred Johansson noted the importance pre-match of being more clinical, but once again they were found wanting.

The positive for supporters, the football was much more reminiscent of that seen in the early stages his tenure, particularly Maswanhise's chance where they worked the ball from back to front with slick passing before the striker shot wide.

Maswanhise had earlier passed up an opportunity six yards out as he smashed high over. Ibrahim Said missed one that he really should have buried, too, when he found himself one on one with Jacob Chapman by shot straight at the goalkeeper.

Then, when it looked like all the chips were down, a moment of good fortune.

Regan Charles-Cook and Fieldson were tussling in the St Mirren box when the ball took a nick off the latter's hand. Referee Robertson didn't give the spot-kick on the pitch but after a look at the monitor he pointed to the spot.

And while Fadinger's penalty was maybe fortunate, sometimes that's what you need to end a winless run and be the catalyst for better days.

St Mirren analysis: First defeat in three is set back

St Mirren expected goalsOpta

Just when it looked like Craig McLeish's men were starting to turn a corner, they were undone by a late sucker-punch.

Beforehand, the manager praised his side for being tough to play against, even if they've not been performing particularly well, and that was something they did again in Motherwell, partly helped by how wasteful the hosts were.

In defence, St Mirren were solid. They made 21 tackles, won nine, and made nine interceptions.

Up the other end, though, they were wasteful, too, but didn't create as much.

They managed just one shot in the first half, four in the second, only one of those was on target. They're expected goals (xG) hardly even registered at 0.2 and they failed to create a single big chance.

While St Mirren will need to continue to be hard to beat, they will also need to work on making more happen at the other end.

What they said

'Massive credit to the players'

Motherwell manager Alfred Johansson: "I think very similar to how the last couple of games have been, I think we played very well.

"Big credit to the players because you could maybe sense in the last 20 minutes that it could maybe be the same story all over again because we created a lot of chances, which we didn't convert.

"We kept on going and scored in the 82nd minute, so massive credit to the players."

St Mirren boss Craig McLeish: "We didn't do enough to test Motherwell, I don't think their goalkeeper had a save to make.

"We got into some promising areas but lacked a bit of quality in the final third. There were some really promising periods and got into promising areas but didn't manage to take advantage of them.

"Motherwell maybe feel a bit aggrieved that they didn't take more of their chances."

Player of the match

L. Fadinger
7.00
8 L. Fadinger
7.00
19 I. Said
6.77
12 O. Priestman
6.76
45 E. Longelo
6.64
1 A. Paulsen
6.57
17 Regan Charles-Cook
6.33
15 E. Björgólfs­son
6.24
71 J. Hodge
6.17
3 J. Girdwood-Reich
6.14
16 P. McGinn
6.00
14 C. Hendry
5.95
5 M. Moormann
5.87
7 T. Sparrow
5.83
13 J. Kanga
5.77
47 S. Palmer-Houlden
5.64
18 T. Maswanhise
5.55
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