Date	Saturday, 01 May 2021
Competition	Scottish Premiership
Fixture/Score	Dundee United 0:2 Ross County
Venue	Tannadice Park
Attendance
Referee	Kevin Clancy
Comments	Match Report Report by Nick McPheat for the BBC. Played Behind Closed Doors Dundee United 0 Ross County 2 Ross County manager John Hughes says his side "stood up and showed real desire" to move out the Scottish Premiership's bottom two. First-half goals from from Jordan White and Alex Iacovitti secured a vital victory away to Dundee United, ending a five-game winless run. The victory means County's top-flight fate is now in their own hands with two games remaining. "I'm delighted for the players," Hughes said. "We could've felt sorry for ourselves with where we are. The shape, organisation and everything we worked on was very good." Hughes' side had United on the back foot early when White headed over and Blair Spittal forced Deniz Mehmet to tip behind a dangerous cross. Michael Gardyne then tried his luck but dragged a right-footed strike wide before providing for Stephen Kelly, who drilled a near-post finish from a tight angle into the side netting. County continued to probe the United backline and got the goal their early showing merited when a sweeping move resulted in former United midfielder Spittal crossing for White to clinically power a header past Mehmet. And the visitors would double their lead just four minutes later, as Spittal's inswinging corner was flicked on by Jason Naismith into the path of Iacovitti, who forced the ball over the line despite Mehmet's best efforts. County conceded more of the ball in the second half but were organised to limit the hosts, with only a curling Logan Chalmers effort that clipped the crossbar troubling the visitors. Instead, it was the visitors who came closest to adding to the scoring as Kelly's volley was tipped on to the bar by Mehmet and Regan Charles-Cook headed the rebound off the near post. Prior to Saturday's game, County had gone ahead in 15 league games this season but had only come out victorious in eight. That must have been going through Hughes' mind at half-time but, despite conceding the majority of possession, his side showed composure to see the game out and keep their top-flight fate in their own hands. United assistant boss Stephen Frial said pre-match that the decision to name the same starting line-up as last weekend's impressing Scottish Cup quarter-final win over Aberdeen was to keep momentum going. Going into next week's semi-final, that momentum might have taken a bit of a kicking. A team selection that might have seemed straightforward for Micky Mellon before this game could prove more difficult next week. Dundee United manager Micky Mellon: "We gave away cheap goals. It was difficult for us to respond to that. "We couldn't find a way to open County up. We'll try and find a way of getting back on track. It's a massive game next week, the players will be ready." Ross County manager John Hughes: "We nullified them [United]. It was great the way we saw the game out. "That's the demands we want at the club. It'll go right down to the wire. We can only take care of what's in front of us."
Ross County
Manager	John Hughes
Starting 11	1: Ross Laidlaw, 4: Leo Hjelde, 7: Michael Gardyne, 11: Iain Vigurs 1, 16: Alexander Iacovitti 1 1, 18: Stephen Kelly, 20: Blair Spittal 1, 22: Jordon Tillson, 23: Jason Naismith, 25: Coll Donaldson, 26: Jordan White 1
Bench	21: Joseph Hilton, 6: Ross Draper, 8: Oliver Shaw, 9: Billy Mckay, 14: Jermaine Hylton, 15: Keith Watson, 17: Regan Charles-Cook, 19: Charlie Lakin, 24: Harrison Paton
Dundee United
Manager	Micky Mellon
Starting 11	Deniz Mehmet, Liam Smith, Mark Reynolds, Marc McNulty, Nicky Clark, Ryan Edwards, Jamie Robson, Calum Butcher, Ian Harkes, Lawrence Shankland, Jeando Fuchs
Bench	Adrian Sporle, Mark Connolly, Peter Pawlett, Florent Hoti, Logan Chalmers, Luke Bolton, Louis Appere, Kerr Smith, Ross Doohan