Carljohan Eriksson was the Dundee United hero as the Tangerines withstood a Motherwell barrage to draw 0-0 at Fir Park.
The Finnish goalkeeper, who had conceded 13 goals in his three United appearances prior to facing the Steelmen, denied Kevin van Veen from the penalty spot during a frantic first half in North Lanarkshire.
Van Veen also struck the cross-bar.
The stalemate is United’s first domestic clean sheet of the campaign and the resilience shown will please interim boss Liam Fox, albeit they remain at the foot of the Premiership.
Key moments
Barring Steven Fletcher forcing a sharp save from Liam Kelly with a towering header, Motherwell’s dominance in the first-half was almost total.
Following decent efforts from Blair Spittal, Ross Tierney and Van Veen, the Steelmen were given a golden opportunity to claim a richly-merited lead from the penalty spot.
A frenetic period of ‘Well pressure saw Edwards make a flying block to deny Tierney, thwart a Sean Goss drive on the goal-line and clear a subsequent cross. Heroic stuff from the captain. Or so it seemed.
Referee Craig Napier deemed that Edwards had used an arm, giving Van Veen the chance to convert from 12 yards. However, his penalty was brilliantly saved by Eriksson.
The luckless Van Veen then rattled the cross-bar on the cusp of half-time.
Great Escape stuff for the Tangerines as they somehow made it to the interval with parity intact.
Edwards produced a sensational block in the dying embers when a penalty box stramash resulted in Van Veen firing towards goal with Eriksson wrong-footed; a point-saving intervention.
United’s star man: Carljohan Eriksson
Eriksson endured the sling and arrows of criticism following United 9-0 defeat against Celtic, albeit singling out any individual for a team-wide collapse seems cruel.
So, it is only fair that ‘Saku’ takes the plaudits for this one.
Last year’s Swedish top-flight goalkeeper of the year made four saves at Fir Park, one of which was a fine penalty stop from van Veen.
He also parried a host of dangerous deliveries from wide areas to relative safety as the Well evidently targeted the flanks.
Player ratings
Eriksson 7; Edwards 7, Mulgrew 7, Graham 6; Smith 6, Harkes 5, Levitt 5 (Sibbald 75, 3), McGrath 6, Behich 6; Watt 5 (Middleton 60, 4), Fletcher 7.
Manager under the microscope: Liam Fox
Back to basics was the mantra in midweek as United restored experienced campaigners such as Charlie Mulgrew and Tony Watt and went to the 3-5-2 that served them so well last term.
Given it brought a 2-1 victory at Livingston, it was no surprise to see interim head coach Fox stick with the same team.
After a poor first half, and with Jamie McGrath on a booking from the second minute, he resisted the temptation to make changes at the break — and his team-talk appeared to do the trick.
Were United brilliant in the second 45? Absolutely not.
However, the flow of Motherwell pressure was better resisted, while Fletcher and Liam Smith lashed dangerous drives wide.
Fox remains unbeaten in his two matches as interim — and a draw at the in-form Steelmen is no disgrace — but this was certainly less of a triumph than United’s fine win at Livi.Â
Man in the middle: Craig Napier
Napier’s decision to book McGrath after two minutes was gutsy. The Irishman’s fairly crude halting of a Motherwell counter was a caution all day long — but the sort of thing that will often be overlooked in the early knockings.
His contentious penalty call appeared to baffle players on both sides; one for the Sportscene slow-mos.
And Napier then booked Well manager Stevie Hammell following a bizarre episode during which he played a United advantage that the Terrors did not want — and the hosts seemed unaware of — before calling the incident back for a dangerous free-kick to Fox’s charges.
A bit of a slapdash showing.
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