Motherwell moved a point closer to European football next season with a 1-1 draw against league leaders Hearts on Saturday night at Fir Park.
A Stephen Kingsley own goal had the hosts ahead after 25 minutes, before Lawrence Shankland equalised right on the stroke of half-time.
Fir Park was bouncing ahead of kick-off, with 12,306 fans in attendance, which was the highest attendance since 2005. Motherwell fans brought colour to the stands to celebrate 140 years of Motherwell Football Club.
Regarding the Motherwell side, Jens Berthel Askou opted to change personnel for the crunch match against Hearts. The Motherwell manager made three changes, with Ibrahim Said, Liam Gordon and Oscar Priestman brought into the side. Tom Sparrow dropped to the bench, with Paul McGinn and Lukas Fadinger missing out all together.
With the action underway, Elijah Just raced forward as Motherwell looked for a strong start.. His cross found Slattery diving to head the ball towards the bottom corner, forcing Alex Schwolow to dive low to his left and palm the ball to safety.
Four minutes later it was ‘Well’s turn to prevent the Tynecastle side opening the scoring.
Jordi Altena’s dipping drive was palmed away by Calum Ward at full stretch, leaving Lawrence Shankland to stroke the ball into the net from six yards. O’Donnell had other ideas, sliding across to block the net-bound effort with a sensational recovery.
After that burst of action at either end, play was largely limited to the middle of the park, with the Steelmen keen to test the Hearts’ defence on the break.
And the visitor’s rearguard was exposed after 24 minutes when Motherwell took the lead. Tawanda Maswanhise and Longelo had a quick exchange on the left touchline before the latter fired a low ball across Schwolow’s goal. With Said waiting behind him, Stephen Kingsley could only divert the ball over his own goal line to stun the Hearts’ fans behind the goal.
As the Motherwell players contested every ball, giving Hearts no time in possession, the huge Edinburgh following had little to get excited about until three minutes from half-time.
Once again Altena hammered the ball towards Ward, and this time when the keeper’s block rebounded to Shankland eight yards from goal, the Scotland striker made no mistake, calmly smashing the ball home to level the scores.
The injury to Hearts’ Marc Leonard meant Alexandros Kyzirdis replaced him for the second half, and his pace down the right wing posed Motherwell an early threat.
However, it was a sweeping move from the home side after 53 minutes that almost restored their lead. Half a dozen passes stemming from Watt in the middle of the park ended with the overlapping O’Donnell sliding the ball behind the Tynecastle goalkeeper only for an offside flag to halt the goal celebrations.
Another Hearts injury saw Craig Halkett replaced by Frankie Kent, whose first touch conceded a corner. When the visitor’s defence failed to clear it, Callum Slattery’s cross picked out O’Donnell, who could only guide his header over the bar.
There was a nervous wait for Motherwell fans in the 67th minute with a VAR check after Longelo and Kyzirdis collided in the penalty area. But after being called to the monitor, referee Steve McLean waved play to continue.
With 77 minutes on the clock, the Fir Park boss made his first change of the evening, replacing Said with Johnny Koutroumbis.
It was Hearts’ turn to sweat over a potential penalty check when Maswanhise was tripped as he headed into the box, but again the referee stood by his on-field decision.
With five minutes remaining the Steelmen made a double substitution, with Calum Hendry and Regan Charles-Cook given the chance to find a winner.
In a dramatic eight minutes of added time the Fir Park men looked in more control, but neither side could create an opening that would earn them three points.
Motherwell Team: Ward, Said, O’Donnell, Gordon, Welsh, Longelo, Priestman, Watt, Slattery, Just, Maswanhise.
Motherwell Subs: Connelly, Sparrow, Koutroumbis, Ross, Halliday, Nicholson, Charles-Cook, Booth, Hendry.