Motherwell were eliminated from the Scottish Cup in the fifth round, following a 2-0 defeat to Aberdeen in a game that will be remembered for controversial red cards.
Oscar Priestman was shown a straight red after just two minutes, before Kevin Nisbet opened the scoring after three minutes. Dennis Geiger was also ordered off for a high tackle on Lukas Fadinger, before Liam Gordon was sent off for a tackle on the halfway line.
Graeme Shinnie doubled the hosts’ lead after 64 minutes.
There were six changes to the Motherwell side that defeated Aberdeen on Sunday. Fresh off the back of signing his new contract, Matty Connelly replaced Calum Ward between the sticks. Stephen O’Donnell, Liam Gordon, Lukas
Fadinger and Regan Charles-Cook, with Eythor Bjørgolfsson, handed his first Motherwell start up front.
In windy conditions, the game started with 1000 travelling Motherwell fans in fine voice. But the start would be disastrous for the Steelmen.
Oscar Priestman slipped when tracking back and fouled Lyall Cameron as a result. Although there was no intention of fouling the midfielder, John Beaton deemed Priestman as the last man, and he was given his marching orders.
From the resulting free kick, Kevin Nisbet stepped up and curled home from the edge of the box past Connelly. After just three minutes, the Steelmen were a man and a goal down.
Motherwell and Jens Berthel Askou made the relevant changes with the man disadvantage. But Aberdeen were seeing most of the ball, with Nisbet having a shot saved from the right edge of the box after eight minutes.
The hosts were in the groove, and a lovely move forward eventually ended in Connelly making a wonderful save over the bar from Cameron’s strike on 12 minutes, as Motherwell tried to remain in the tie at this early stage.
Manager Askou made no substitutions despite the early setback but was ordering small tactical changes on the field to try and gain some control in proceedings. Cameron sent another shot towards goal in the 20th minute, but Connelly got down comfortably to gather.
But the game was changed yet again on 22 minutes when Dennis Geiger was shown a red card following a high tackle into Lukas Fadinger’s stomach. Beaton originally showed a yellow, but it was upgraded following a VAR review. 10 v 10 after 23 minutes.
Motherwell’s first shot came on the 28th minute. A move, which started in their own six-yard box, was worked to Elijah Just, whose shot was deflected wide for a corner. But the Steelmen were growing into the game.
Tempers began to flare when Shinnie tried to pull O’Donnell down off the ball and when Top Keskinen barged into Charles-Cook needlessly. But space was opening up all over the park, and Motherwell were trying to exploit it as best they could.
Nisbet almost doubled the host’s lead on 44 minutes. Keskinen slipped the ball to the striker with his back to goal; he swivelled and struck with his left foot from six yards out, but Connelly was able to save with his feet.
Half-time arrived with Aberdeen still ahead, but it looked like more goals would be in store during the second-half. The Motherwell manager brought Callum Slattery on in place of Tom Sparrow during the interval.
But all half-time tweaks would need to be re-altered after 48 minutes. Liam Gordon hesitated before playing a ball over the top, and Toyosi Olusanya nipped in. Gordon brought the striker down on the halfway line, but Beaton was ordered by the monitor to overturn his initial yellow card decision.
With nine men, the Steelmen would have a difficult task ahead of them but still stuck in there. Charles-Cook dropped the shoulder and shot over the bar on 56 minutes following a short corner. The nine Steelmen were giving it everything to remain in the Scottish Cup but were exposed should Aberdeen counter.
Elliot Watt and Emmanuel Longelo were introduced at the hour mark, replacing Eythor Bjørgolfsson and Lukas Fadinger. But those substitutes weren’t given much of a chance before the next goal came along. Graeme Shinnie picked up the ball outside the box, shaped the ball onto his left foot before firing into Connelly’s left bottom corner. 2-0 after 64 minutes and an uphill task for Motherwell.
Emmanuel Longelo tested the Aberdeen goalkeeper with a low effort down to his right-hand side, before Ibrahim Said saw his effort gathered by the keeper shortly afterwards as despite the man disadvantage and scoreline, they kept battling in the tie.
Motherwell continued to probe. A quick free kick went Charles-Cook who fired across the face of goal but there were no takers on 72 minutes. Maswanhise burst into life on 74 minutes latching onto a Slattery through ball. The forward got in front of the defender and his strike beat the keeper, but not the left-hand post.
Slattery went close on 87 minutes. He slipped as he curled the ball, searching for the far corner. The ball didn’t come back in quite enough and just went wide. Nicholson then drove forward in the next attack. He shrugged off two defenders but his strike took a nick off the defender and took all the power out the shot as the keeper gathered comfortably.
Nine-man Motherwell couldn’t find a way through as time slipped away and crashed out the Scottish Cup.
Motherwell Subs: Ward, McGhee, Ross, Longelo, Slattery, McAllister, Watt, Nicholson, Said.
