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Dan Casey's header looped beyond Ross Sinclair to give Motherwell an 11th-minute lead Moses Ebiye's 94th-minute header salvaged a Scottish Premiership victory for Motherwell in a stoppage-time period featuring superb saves, a goal and a red card. Ebiye, standing on the goal-line, applied the killer touch to Dan Casey's back-post header, moments after Ross Sinclair had denied the defender with a flying stop. St Johnstone defender Jack Sanders was then dismissed in the dying embers for a bruising body-check on substitute Tony Watt. Motherwell had bossed proceedings for over an hour, before the tumultuous endgame, leading through Casey's 11th-minute header. And they ought to have amassed more than a one-goal lead by the time the hosts showed signs of an attacking pulse. Scottish Premiership: Ross County v Aberdeen after Motherwell win & Dens draw All the latest from St Johnstone Everything you need to know about Motherwell After Paul Mc Ginn was denied an early penalty following copious video replays, Casey seized upon Sinclair’s tentative attempt to clear a corner, allowing the defender to steam in and loop home. Andy Halliday swerved an outrageous first-time piledriver beyond Sinclair soon after, but the goal was expunged with Tawanda Maswanhise offside when he squared for the midfielder. Motherwell had their foot wedged on St Johnstone’s throat, prodigious teenager Lennon Miller’s influence growing and Watt threatening with lancing runs. A second goal would have reflected their supremacy, but it never came. That proved painful. Craig Levein made a triple substitution, and one of his new men, Makenzie Kirk, neatly played in Benjamin Kimpioka to blast home his seventh of the season. That teed up a helter-skelter final quarter, with Watt seeing a scrappy finish correctly ruled out for a foul on Sinclair; Kirk going close from distance; and Ebiye then former Saint Liam Gordon drawing more rearguard action. Come the frenetic finale, Ebiye struck, earning Motherwell back-to-back league victories and fourth spot in the table, while bumping St Johnstone down to eighth. After “a couple of errors”, Levein opted to remove first-choice goalkeeper Josh Rae not just from the starting XI, but out of the matchday squad altogether. Sinclair had not played in over a year as he battled back from an elbow injury, and perhaps unsurprisingly, had moments of uncertainty. To give him his due, he finished the game in inspired form, a trio of excellent stops just before the winner. At the other end, St Johnstone wielded two adept strikers, but for an age they toiled to involve either Nicky Clark or Kimpioka where they could influence proceedings. Reasonable spells of possession, but little dynamism, verve or promise of an end product. Levein’s substitutions changed the game, but in truth, a draw would have felt harsh on Motherwell. Manager Stuart Kettlewell and assistant Stevie Frail were confirmed to have signed new deals earlier on Saturday, and a third-straight win keeps the momentum rolling. Kettlewell talks long and loud about the “non-negotiable” elements of Motherwell’s identity, and for the most part, those were present in shovelfuls. Mc Ginn remains brilliantly commanding at the back, Stephen O’Donnell is rejuvenated, and Maswanhise looks a pulse-quickening find. Their football is all the more impressive considering the unenviable list of injured first-teamers. Kettlewell would have been furious had his team squandered their winning position, but Ebiye’s salvo ensured the feelgood bubbles on. A trip to unbeaten Aberdeen on 14 September is a tasty prospect. St Johnstone manager Craig Levein: “We’d been working very hard on trying to do better with the ball and that side of things was good today. “Ninety percent of our defending was good, but our defending from set-pieces was woeful. That’s why we didn’t get anything from the match. ” Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell: “What a way to win a game. You can see the emotions pouring out. It wasn’t plain sailing. “We have scored a lot of last-minute goals through my time and that is a part of the togetherness, energy and drive to do as best as they can for the club. ” Last Updated 31st August 2024 at 19: 50 Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made. Manager: Craig Levein Formation: 3 - 5 - 2 Manager: Stuart Kettlewell Formation: 3 - 4 - 2 - 1 Premiership All competitions All competitions All competitions St. Johnstone have only lost one of their last nine league meetings with Motherwell (W4 D4), going down 0-2 in May 2023. Five of Motherwell’s last seven league visits to St. Johnstone have been drawn, including both of the last two, with each side winning once each in this time. St. Johnstone are winless in 10 home league matches (D4 L6), their longest such run in the top-flight since another run of 10 from April to November 2001. Motherwell have kept just one clean sheet in their last 17 league games, with that coming via a 0-0 draw with Ross County on MD1 this season. Dan Casey has recorded more interceptions (8) than any other player in the Scottish Premiership this season, while he has also made more tackles (9) and blocked more shots (4) than any other Motherwell player. Aaron Essel (St. Johnstone) wins a free kick on the right wing. Foul by Dan Casey (Motherwell). Goal! St. Johnstone 0, Motherwell 1. Dan Casey (Motherwell) header from very close range to the top left corner. Assisted by Andy Halliday with a cross following a corner. Corner, Motherwell. Conceded by Ross Sinclair. Corner, Motherwell. Conceded by André Raymond. VAR Decision: No Penalty Motherwell. Foul by Drey Wright (St. Johnstone). Lennon Miller (Motherwell) wins a free kick on the left wing. Offside, St. Johnstone. Benjamin Kimpioka is caught offside. Foul by Davor Zdravkovski (Motherwell). Nicky Clark (St. Johnstone) wins a free kick in the defensive half. First Half begins. Lineups are announced and players are warming up. © 2024 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.