| Date | Saturday, 23 August 2014 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish Premiership |
| Fixture/Score | Dundee United 2:1 Ross County |
| Venue | Tannadice Park |
| Attendance | 7,179 |
| Referee | Steven McLean |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Jim Spence for the BBC. Dundee United 2 Ross County 1 Goals from Nadir Ciftci and Chris Erskine gave Dundee United victory over pointless Ross County in the Scottish Premiership. Ciftci headed the Tangerines in front from Paul Paton's free-kick. However, Jake Jervis stabbed home to bring County level after the half-time interval. Both sides created chances to win the match but it was United who got the three points with Chris Erskine's powerful late strike. The win takes Jackie McNamara's side up to third in the table, trailing leaders Inverness by a point and behind Hamilton Academical on goal difference. County are bottom without a point. United had better possession in the half and took the lead through Ciftci but it was a 45 minutes littered with stoppages for fouls and four bookings, making for a very disjointed affair and scrappy play. County blasted back into the game not long after the restart with a move started by Graham Carey's pass to Cardle. The winger's teasing cross was missed by Arquin on the jump, but not by Jervis as he steered a neat shot past Radoslaw Cierznak from six yards. And the visitors should have gone ahead on the hour when Arquin had a free header but nodded wide with only the keeper to beat from six yards. The home side almost restored their lead when Mario Bilate crossed from the right for John Rankin but the midfielder's stretch to connect eight yards out just failed to find the ball. Ciftci headed across goal only for Reguero to cut out the danger and the striker then blasted wide when Bilate was in the clear and better placed for the pass. And to crown an unlucky few moments, Ciftci headed downwards and watched his effort bounce over the bar. Jervis then missed a terrific opportunity for County, blasting a volley over from the edge of the six-yard box. Reguero saved in quick succession to deny Ryan Dow and Rankin but was eventually beaten by substitute Erskine's stunning winner. The Spaniard beat out a corner but it fell to Erskine, who thrashed a first-time strike high into the net from 14 yards. Dundee United manager Jackie McNamara praised the work-rate of Chris Erskine after his late strike sealed a home win against Ross County. The match at Tannadice looked to be heading for a draw when Erskine sent home a powerful drive to seal all three points. "It was good for Chris to come on and get the winner," Said McNamara. "His attitude has been spot on, I think he's got every case to bang my door on Monday morning and demand a start." Nadir Ciftci headed the Tangerines in front from a free-kick, but Jake Jervis fired in to level the scores shortly after the restart. Erskine's goal in the 86th minute gave McNamara's men a winner that he believed would come at some point in the match. "Having scored the first goal, I thought it was disappointing to lose the equaliser on the break," said McNamara. "We were always pushing forward, but I thought it was a good match." The win takes United up to third in the table, trailing leaders Inverness by a point, and the United manager felt it was a good response to last week's 6-1 drubbing by Celtic in Glasgow. "I think we let everybody down last week," added McNamara. "The scoreline was a bit embarrassing, but it was a good way to bounce back today, in a game where it could have gone against us. We kept chipping away. "I think we had some great attempts at goal without being totally creative, but I was confident we would get the winner. "Going down the hill, we had some good opportunities in behind them. I thought one would go in and I'm delighted Chris managed to score the winner." Ross County manager Derek Adams felt Dundee United stole the points off his side after Chris Erskine's late goal. Jake Jervis cancelled out Nadir Ciftci's opener, but Erskine's winner four minutes from time meant the three points stayed in Tayside. "We were in total command of the game," Adams told BBC Radio Scotland following the 2-1 defeat. "They've stolen the three points off us today and that's been the story of our season so far." The result meant a fourth defeat in four games for the Dingwall men and leaves them rooted to the bottom of the Scottish Premiership table. "We've had two open goals in the second half that we haven't taken at 1-1," explained Adams. "I thought in the first half we started really well. Dundee United scored against the run of the play and we should have defended the free-kick better. "It was man-for-man and Ciftci scored. "Performance-wise I thought we were excellent. We took the game to Dundee United and caused them all sorts of problems. "I thought Dundee United were there to be beaten. I looked at the way we passed the ball, we created openings down the side into the front areas. "Overall I'm delighted with the performance, the second half especially. It's our best performance of the season. "The first goal is [Scott] Boyd's fault - he should be marking Ciftci. The second goal is [goalkeeper Antonio] Reguero's. They know that. "We've made two individual errors there, but over the game we've competed with a very good Dundee United side." And he added: "I've been under pressure for seven years. Every day you get up in the morning you're under pressure. "You look at the way we played today, we're great going forward. Okay we've made mistakes but Dundee United are a decent outfit." |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Derek Adams |
| Starting 11 | 1: Antonio Reguero Chapinal, 3: Uros Celcer, 5: Scott Boyd, 8: Richard Brittain, 9: Jake Jervis 1, 10: Filip Kiss 1, 15: Yoann Arquin, 17: Joseph Cardle, 19: James Fenlon 1, 20: Jordi Balk, 23: Graham Carey |
| Bench | 21: Mark Brown, 4: Rocco Quinn, 11: Melvin De Leeuw, 14: Darren Maatsen, 16: Liam Boyce, 17: Steven Ross, 18: Benedict Frempah |
| Dundee United | |
| Manager | Jackie McNamara |
| Starting 11 | Radoslaw Cierzniak, Keith Watson, Conor Townsend, Callum Morris 1, Jaroslaw Fojut, Paul Paton, John Rankin, Ryan Dow, Gary Mackay-Steven, Nadir Ciftci 1 1, Mario Bilate |
| Bench | Marc McCallum, Chris Erskine 1, Brian Graham, Blair Spittal, Charlie Telfer, Aidan Connolly, Scott Smith |