FootyChatter.com

FT: Motherwell 1-1 Kilmarnock Gordon takes advantage of rebound to slide Motherwell ahead Kilmarnock's Polworth forces equaliser past goalkeeper Oxborough after break Casey shown red three minutes later for clash with Armstrong, and referee Chris Graham sticks with call despite VAR intervention Motherwell hold on to move above Dundee United into fourth Kilmarnock remain eighth, three points off top six Andrew Petrie Motherwell 1-0 Kilmarnock Fraser Murray battles down the left and picks out Kyle Vassell in the middle. The striker does well to get the ball out of his feet and fires low, and Aston Oxborough gets down well to save. A sign of life from the visitors. Motherwell 1-0 Kilmarnock Martin Dowden BBC Sport Scotland at Fir Park Neither has been dominant in a fairly even opening but that first goal is so important. Off the back of a couple of wins, Motherwell know another is massive at this stage of the campaign and their confidence will likely soar. Once again, Kilmarnock will have to do it the hard way. This time coming from one down but they have shown real resilience of late. Motherwell 1-0 Kilmarnock Motherwell have avoided defeat in their last 10 matches when scoring first in the Premiership, since a 1-3 loss to Celtic on 25 February 2024. Kilmarnock have conceded 14 first-half goals in 18 games, only Dundee (15) have conceded more in the Premiership this season. Not good news for the visitors. Liam Gordon Motherwell take the lead! A long-free kick is given away needlessly - Marley Watkins catches Lennon Miller with an arm as he runs past him. It's punted in, not dealt with, and Miller clips it up to the back post. Dan Casey's header comes off the post and Gordon fires in the rebound. Motherwell 0-0 Kilmarnock Kilmarnock are looking quite sharp though, and a lot more confident than they have in recent weeks. Fraser Murray swings a corner in. It's well headed away, then put back in, and Joe Wright's header bobbles into the hands of Aston Oxborough. Motherwell 0-0 Kilmarnock Kyle Vassell is dragged down by Harry Paton about 30 yards from goal. It's been a tetchy start from both. The free-kick comes to nothing though. Motherwell 0-0 Kilmarnock Whip it in they do, and Apostolos Stamatelopoulos nods towards goal. Kieran O'Hara lunges to his right to make a fine save, but the flag goes up. A good start for the deputising keeper, anyway. Good for the confidence. Motherwell 0-0 Kilmarnock The first game of the Premiership weekend begins, and there's an early Motherwell free-kick. They could whip it in from here. Motherwell v Kilmarnock (19: 45) Stephen Mc Ginn Former Kilmarnock midfielder on BBC Sportsound The message has been all too familiar. It'll be about keeping 11 men on the pitch. They're making things so difficult for themselves this season. Last weekend, they showed that grit and togetherness. The away form has let them down though. Motherwell v Kilmarnock (19: 45) Stephen Craigan Former Motherwell defender on Sportsound If Motherwell continue on the performance they produced here on Saturday against Dundee United, they put themselves in a good chance with winning. Aspects of their play going forward were much more controlled and structured than the last four or five games, when they were very direct. Motherwell v Kilmarnock (19: 45) Motherwell v Kilmarnock (19: 45) Martin Dowden BBC Sport Scotland at Fir Park Clearly, from his pre-match interview on Sportsound, Derek Mc Innes feels his players have been treated very harshly this season compared to others. They came through being down to 10 men against Hearts superbly but he'll know that's one hinderance they could do without. Tonight is a real opportunity for both. Kilmarnock seek successive wins. Motherwell seek a third straight one which would do wonders for their position and create a 11-point gap to the Ayrshire side. Plenty to play for. Motherwell v Kilmarnock (19: 45) Kilmarnock boss Derek Mc Innes tells BBC Scotland: "There's a load of teams like us who are searching for that winning formula, that run of unbeaten games. "A lot was made of Hearts not being good [last week], but I thought for us to go so long in a game with 10 men was unbelievable. We took so many positives from it. "We're just looking to get wins behind because the league table can look so different with a few wins. Stuart will be looking for the exact same and it'll be a tough game. "Last week, [Deas] was a red card. There's no qualms or objections. But a lot of our red cards haven't been red cards. We've committed the fewest fouls in the league, yet we have this record for red cards. We are not a dirty team. " Motherwell v Kilmarnock (19: 45) Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell tells BBC Scotland: "At any stage, if you're able to string two or three wins together you're doing exceptionally well because there's no such thing as an easy run of fixtures. "We've had the opportunity to make it three wins a row a couple of times and we've not got beyond two. That's the harsh facts of it but it's our focus tonight. "If [confidence] is anything but high, we're missing a trick. The confidence was high when we lost a few games, but we believe in what we're doing. "I'm not going to set goals publicly but I'm always game at a time. Currently, we find ourselves in a decent spot but this league is so tight so it's important we don't feel too comfortable at any stage. " Motherwell v Kilmarnock (19: 45) After being replaced at half-time, Robby Mc Crorie is not fit enough to start and once again Kieran O'Hara is drafted in as one of three changes to the Killie XI. David Watson also returns, coming into the midfield, while captain Kyle Vassell comes in to the attack. Mc Crorie is named on the bench, as is Bobby Wales who loses his place just as quickly as he gained it. Robbie Deas is suspended following his red card. The bad news for Kilmarnock is - still no Matty Kennedy. Motherwell v Kilmarnock (19: 45) There's just the one to Stuart Kettlewell's side - perhaps unsurprising, given the clinical manner of their 4-3 win over Dundee United. Tony Watt returns, having been unavailable to play against his parent club last weekend, and starts up top with Apostolos Stamatelopoulos. Tawanda Maswanhise drops to the bench as a result. Motherwell v Kilmarnock (19: 45) Motherwell: Oxborough, Casey, Gordon, Blaney, Kaleta, Paton, Halliday, Miller, Seddon, Watt, Stamatelopoulos. Substitutes: Hegyi, O'Donnell, Balmer, Zdravkovski, Sparrow, Wilson, Ebiye, Maswanhise, Tavares. Kilmarnock: O'Hara, Mayo, Wright, Ndaba, Lyons, Watson, Polworth, Murray, Vassell, Watkins, Anderson. Substitutes: Mc Crorie, Burroughs, Mc Kenzie, Armstrong, Mackay-Steven, Magennis, Cameron, Wales, Bainbridge. Motherwell v Kilmarnock (19: 45) Welcome one, welcome all to Friday night football at Fir Park. Motherwell host Kilmarnock in their final games before Christmas Day - so who will greet Saint Nick with a smile, and who will be a right Grinch? Let's have a look at the teams. .. Dan Casey's controversial red card will grab the headlines after a drab 90 minutes Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell says he is "sick fed up" of refereeing in the Scottish Premiership after Dan Casey's "incredible" red card during his side's draw with Kilmarnock. Liam Polworth scored his first goal for two years for Kilmarnock in the second half to cancel out Liam Gordon's opener before the break for Motherwell. Then came the big talking point at Fir Park, when Casey was given a straight red three minutes after Polworth's goal following an altercation with Danny Armstrong. Referee Chris Graham indicated Casey had grabbed Armstrong towards the throat, and stuck with his original call despite being called to the monitor to review the incident by video assistant referee David Dickinson. Guidance provided by the Scottish FA said the red card was given for violent conduct due to Casey's hand being close to Armstrong's chin, but Kettlewell said he is "concerned" if the bar for sending offs is set at that threshold, with Casey's grab appearing to have little force behind it. Aston Villa and Scotland midfielder John Mc Ginn called it "the worst decision I've seen" on social media platform X. "It's quite incredible, " Motherwell boss Kettlewell told BBC Scotland. "Him being sent to the monitor suggests he's got it wrong. I've been given the heads up from Kilmarnock's bench that this is going to be overturned. And the ref watches it several times and thinks that he's got it right. "I'm concerned for the game in this country if we're deeming that type of thing a red card. We want it to get better. Decisions like that are not moving it forward. " Latest Motherwell news & analysis Follow everything Kilmarnock on BBC Sport Despite the man advantage for the final 13 minutes, Kilmarnock could not capitalise to claim victory. However, they once again showed resilience to fight back and take a point, coming up short of successive league wins for just the second time this season. It was far from a classic contest for long spells but the home side nudged ahead after taking advantage of a cheap concession of a free-kick by Marley Watkins. The ball fell to Lennon Miller, he dinked to the back post for Casey whose header clipped a post and fell perfectly for Gordon to slam home from close range. Despite enjoying a fair share of the ball, Kilmarnock struggled to create concrete opportunities until changing personnel and their structure. Chances were few and far between until a dramatic finale. Substitute Bobby Wales offered flashes of quality but failed to connect from close range after good work from Fraser Murray as Kilmarnock pushed for an equaliser. Wales then missed a great chance from a corner before the ball fell for captain Kyle Vassell, but his effort was blocked. From the corner, Polworth found space and fired home despite Aston Oxborough getting a strong hand on his effort. Casey's red card followed but it was Motherwell who came closest to a winner when Miller curled a beautiful free kick just wide as both sides pushed for a dramatic winner. Kilmarnock also had cause to question a decision, when Brad Lyons and Andy Halliday tangled in the box, as a controversial game ended all square. Motherwell have been in decent form and in a tightly packed Scottish Premiership that usually brings rewards. They will be frustrated to have gone ahead and not held on, but stay fourth in the table with a point. Not that they were at their best here. Not by a stretch but they nullified Kilmarnock until the visitors improved when substitutes came on. The red card late on significantly hampered their ability to force a winner and that decision may well be challenged in due course, given the lack of force in Casey's grab of Armstrong off the ball. Despite that setback, Motherwell still showed a willingness to go and win the game. They face a tough run away to Celtic and at home to Rangers, but will be content with where they are right now. Mc Innes will no doubt be really frustrated by this one. At one stage his side looked short of ideas. But late on they looked more than capable of all three points. They enjoyed a lot of possession but it took half an hour to test Oxborough in goal. They lacked fluency until improving in the second half and eventually found a way through. What is impressive is their resilience and ability to adapt. They found a solution but couldn't quite turn the game around fully. The stop-start nature of the match did not help with lots of fouls slowing down play. A victory would have moved them closer to the top six, but a point and extending their unbeaten run will have to do with Aberdeen at home to come on Boxing Day. This video can not be played Casey red card 'quite incredible' - Kettlewell Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell: "I didn't think we played vey well. I didn't think we passed the ball in the fashion we try and do. For that I always take responsibility. "I felt we fought and scrapped our way through elements of the game. "[The red card] Questionable is an understatement. I always try and be honest. I am sick and fed up of it. " Kilmarnock manager Derek Mc Innes: "We were the better team throughout. We were the better team in the first half and the goal went against the run of play. "It's such an untidy, scrappy goal and we had it all to do. Our response was good though. Second half, we worked down the sides a lot more, played in their half more, had more vigour about us. "We deservedly got our equaliser. " Last Updated 20th December 2024 at 21: 43 Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made. Manager: Stuart Kettlewell Formation: 3 - 1 - 4 - 2 Manager: Derek Mc Innes Formation: 3 - 4 - 1 - 2 Manager: Stuart Kettlewell Formation: 3 - 1 - 4 - 2 Manager: Derek Mc Innes Formation: 3 - 4 - 1 - 2 Scottish Premiership All competitions All competitions All competitions Motherwell have only lost one of their last six league meetings with Kilmarnock (W2 D3), a 0-1 defeat in November 2023. Kilmarnock are winless in five league visits to Motherwell (D2 L3) since a 2-0 victory in December 2020 under Alex Dyer. Motherwell have won both of their last two league games, but haven’t won three on the bounce since September 2023; this is the sixth time since then that they have won back-to-back Scottish Premiership matches. Despite playing the most away games of any side in the Scottish Premiership this season, Kilmarnock are one of three sides yet to keep a clean sheet on their travels in the competition this term (also Hearts and St. Mirren). Killie have conceded a league-high 24 away goals in the top-flight in 2024-25. Kilmarnock are winless in their last nine Scottish Premiership games played on a Friday (D3 L6), with their last such win coming in October 2014 against Dundee United (2-0). Away from home, their last top-flight win on this day of the week was on New Year’s Day 1999 – which was against Motherwell (2-1). © 2024 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.