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The manager gives his views on a late win over Aberdeen.

Motherwell faced Aberdeen for the second time in a week on Saturday night at Fir Park, with Jens Berthel Askou picking up his first league victory as Motherwell boss. 

Two injury-time goals from Australian pair Johnny Koutroumbis and Apostolos Stamatelopoulos gave Motherwell a deserved first league win of the season and extended their unbeaten run to 12 games.

For the first time since his arrival in the summer, the Motherwell manager named an unchanged 11. All nine substitutes remained the same as the previous weekend to match.

That meant a home start for Stephen Welsh and last week’s goal hero, Regan Charles-Cook.

Backed by their loyal and noisy following, Aberdeen could have been ahead within the first minute when Calum Ward was forced to palm Kevin Nisbet’s powerful header from eight yards over the bar.

Although ‘Well quickly resumed their short passing game, both teams had difficulty dealing with longer balls on the wet and slick surface.

Midway through the half, a steady build-up released Tawanda Maswanhise, but his ball across the six-yard box was taken at the second attempt by Dimitar Mitov as Charles-Cook lay waiting behind the ‘keeper.

Following a water break in the rain after 35 minutes, Ward had to act smartly to push Jesper Karlson’s shot away from goal.

With ‘Well content to probe for an opening and never really threatening Mitov’s goal in the first half, former ‘Well defender Nicky Devlin was denied the opener at the other end when his header was nodded off the line by Elliot Watt.

There was a bit more pressure on the Dons’ goal at the start of the second half, and after 62 minutes Mitov produced a brilliant save to deny the Steelmen the opening goal. A quick break on the right allowed Ibrahim Said to whip the ball into the penalty box. Although it fell behind Apostolos Stamatelopoulos, the striker took a touch before hooking the ball towards goal only to see the ‘keeper racing from his line to block his goal-bound effort.

That sparked some much-needed life into the game as both sides chased three points.

With 73 minutes played, Well’s first change saw Johnny Koutroumbis replace Stephen O’Donnell after another impressive shift from the former Scotland.

Five minutes later another chance came the way of Stamatelopoulos. A fortunate rebound sent the ball towards the six-yard box, but the Australian’s well-measured header drifted beyond the post.

Motherwell looked the more likely to score as the game moved into the final five minutes, and Esapa Osong replaced Charles-Cook.

Despite having the better of the second half, though, the Fir Park men seemed to be heading for yet another draw until two minutes into added-on time.

Koutroumbis cut into the box on the left, and although his low shot lacked power, it squirmed out of the hands of the grounded Mitov and over the line to give ‘Well the lead.

Intent on playing out the last few minutes of the game, Jens Berthel Askou sent on Andy Halliday and Kofi Balmer.

However, in a dramatic ending, ‘Well doubled their lead in the 96th minute. Osong’s determination carried him into the Dons’ box before he was fouled, although it took a VAR check to confirm it was a penalty. That allowed Stamatelopoulos to hammer home his first league goal of the season from 12 yards as the players rushed to celebrate with the striker, and the ‘Well fans enjoyed a late, late show.

Motherwell Team: Ward, O’Donnell, Gordon, Welsh, Longelo, Watt, Fadinger, Said, Maswanhise, Charles-Cook, Stamatelopoulos. 

Motherwell Subs: Oxborough, Koutroumbis, Balmer, Priestman, McColm, McAllister, Halliday, Ross, Osong.

Stephen Welsh has enjoyed his start at Motherwell, and believes the team produced a strong performance against Aberdeen last weekend. The Celtic loanee believes Aberdeen’s position in the league table isn’t quite a true reflection of the team they are, and is confident that this weekend’s match will be nothing short of a tough challenge. 

Welsh also discusses his recent spell in Belgium and having a head start on the style of play here at Motherwell from what he learned coming through at Celtic.

Motherwell boss Jens Berthel Askou was delighted that his side booked their spot in the semi-final of the Premier Sports Cup against Aberdeen last weekend, but has put that achievement firmly to the back of his mind ahead of their second match against the Dons in the space of a week this weekend. 

Despite playing the same opponent back-to-back, the manager believes the match could play out in a completely different fashion, with both sides looking for improvement compared to last weekend’s match.

Jens Berthel Askou provided an update on the playing squad ahead of Saturday’s match against Aberdeen at Fir Park. 

“We’ll finalise the squad on Friday,” Jens Berthel Askou said.

“Not a lot of changes; we’re still working on getting players fit. Good progress. Paul McGinn is doing great; we’ll see if that’s too early.

“Some of the guys who have been out for a while, and who will still be out for a while, Filip [Stuparevic] and Zach [Robinson], are doing great. They’re starting to run more.

“Elijah [Just] is doing better, Tom [Sparrow] and so on. Everything is going in the right direction. But for now, I don’t expect a lot of changes to the squad on Saturday.”

Our Premier Sports Cup semi-final match against St Mirren will take place on Saturday 1 November. 

Kick off is 5:30pm.

Ticket prices have also been confirmed.

Tickets will go on sale in due course.

The club are running supporters buses from Fir Park to Hampden. The price is £20 per person. Buses will leave Fir Park at 4pm, with the Cooper Stand open from 1pm for refreshments.

You can book your seat on the bus now by clicking here.

The club will be offering hospitality packages with coach to and from Hampden, with all the details to be confirmed in due course. 

Motherwell take on Aberdeen for the second time in a week on Saturday 27 September at Fir Park.

Kick off is 5:45pm.

How to Follow the game

You can buy tickets online here.

• Young Adults tickets would ages 13-17.
•  Concessions are classed as, Over 65, Full Time Students, 18-21 Year olds.
• Juveniles would be 12 and under

On Match days, the Ticket Office is open from 2:30pm – the ticket office is open until kick-off with no pay gate facility.

If you are outside the UK, you can watch the game via Motherwell TV.

Should you be in the UK, it will be live commentary only.

The match is being show live on Premier Sports.

What else is happening?

The Cooper Suite opens for home and away fans at 3:30pm. Food and drink is available, with the suite remaining open for one hour after the match also.

The Beer Garden will open at 3:30pm, and will be available for home fans only.

The Motherwell FC DSA are collecting money at the match via bucket collection.

Motherwell’s Fortunes

Motherwell made it back-to-back Premier Sports Cup semi-final appearances on Saturday, with a hard-fought but impressive win over Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

Regan Charles-Cook netted his first Motherwell goal since joining late in the summer window and will be looking to follow up again this weekend.

The last time these two sides faced off at Fir Park was when goals from Tawanda Maswanhise and Ewan Wilson secured a deserved 2-0 win over the Dons in January.

Opposition Report

Aberdeen have made a slow start to the Premiership campaign as they hunt down their first victory of the league campaign. A Scottish Cup win was the perfect end to the 2024/25 season, and with a number of new reinforcements, Jimmy Thelin will be looking to get their first league win of the season.

That first league win may come prior to their visit to Fir Park, however. The Dons are in action on Tuesday night against Dundee United at Tannadice.

Motherwell made the long journey north to Aberdeen in the quarter-final of the Premier Sports Cup. The Steelmen were one match away from making it to back-to-back semi-finals in the competition.

And the excitement was high in the build-up, with over 1100 Motherwell fans travelling to Pittodrie in the hope of another special day.

The first-half was jam-packed with big chances for Jens Berthel Askou’s side, with Regan Charles-Cook, Tawanda Maswanhise, Stephen O’Donnell and Ibrahim Said all having big chances.

But nobody could find the breakthrough, and as the game entered into the final 30 minutes, the pocket of Well fans were jubilant as they watched Charles-Cook’s effort curl off the post and into the net.

Despite Aberdeen throwing everything at getting a goal back, it was to be Motherwell’s day, sparking elation and joy after the full-time whistle.

The manager gives his thoughts as his side advance to the semi-final of the Premier Sports Cup.

Motherwell will take on St Mirren for a place in the final of the Premier Sports Cup. 

The semi-final match will take place on the weekend of the 1/2 November at Hampden Park.

All relevant match and ticket information will be communicated in due course.