Tawanda Maswanhise double moves Motherwell up to 4th in Scottish Premiership

Tawanda Maswanhise scored twice as Motherwell returned to winning ways with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Dundee United at Tannadice.

Maswanhise scored in both halves, either side of a Sam Dalby goal for the Terrors.

The result halted a run of two defeats in a row for Motherwell and saw them leapfrog United into fourth place in the Premiership table.

United kept faith with the same team that lost at Pittodrie against Aberdeen on Saturday.

Motherwell made three changes to the side that were defeated by Celtic at Fir Park on Sunday with Dan Casey, Steve Seddon and Maswanhise coming in for Andy Halliday, Davor Zdravkovski, who dropped to the bench, and the suspended Liam Gordon, who was sent off against the Hoops.

The Steelmen broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute. A Lennon Miller free-kick was headed back across goal by Casey with Maswanhise firing home at the back post.

There was then an anxious wait for the visitors with the VAR Andrew Dallas checking for offside but the goal stood.

United tried to hit back with Declan Gallagher having a half chance inside the Motherwell box but his shot as he fell was blocked and then Kristijan Trapanovski cut in from the right and hit a blistering drive that tested Steelmen 'keeper Aston Oxborough.

However, United equalised in the 36th minute when Trapanovski hung up a tempting cross from the left with striker Dalby heading into the top corner past Oxborough.

The hosts were turning the screw with two quickfire chances for Trapanovski and Will Ferry who were only denied by some last-ditch goal-line defending.

Motherwell were the first to threaten after the break but Maswanhise was leaning back and his shot from the edge of the box flew over Jack Walton's crossbar.

There was a big shout for a penalty from the home fans when Vicko Sevelj went down under a challenge from Kofi Balmer but referee Lloyd Wilson saw no offence.

United then had a chance to take the lead when substitute Jort van der Sande teed up Luca Stephenson but the wing-back scuffed his shot.

Instead, it was the Steelmen who scored what proved to be the winner in the 74th minute. Home defender Manny Adegboyega mis-hit a clearance straight into Maswanhise who raced through on goal before beating Walton with a coolly-taken dinked finish over the keeper.

Kettlewell heaps praise on Maswanhise

Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell:

"Tawanda is a breath of fresh air as a boy. He has a smile on his face, is a bright lively character and a really good type.

"We've known from day one, when we got him in a bounce game to play last minute, he was in the wilderness and he needed a place to play and grow.

"He's still young and limited experience wise but I thought it was a really good performance and not just his two goals.

"His second was a special finish, first to have the speed and the finish so composed. He becomes the match winner and the headlines are justified."

Goodwin 'can't believe' United beaten

Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin:

"I can't believe we've lost. They were two incredibly poor goals to concede from our perspective.

"Given how well we played for the majority of the game, I thought we had good control, plenty of scoring opportunities and two or three really good half chances in the second half.

"It's a real sore one for us. We'd have been disappointed with a point, never mind having lost the game.

"I'm aware the only stat that matters is the result but we had more possession tonight than for a long time, we had 17 or 18 goal attempts. We just weren't clinical enough when those chances came."