Dundee Capitalizes on Motherwell's Goalkeeping Errors

Dundee didn’t need to dominate the ball. They just needed Motherwell to blink.

In a game played in a swirling wind at Dens Park, two glaring goalkeeping mistakes from Alex Paulsen handed Steven Pressley’s patched‑up side a third league win of the season and sent Motherwell home from Tayside with a third straight Premiership defeat.

Westley buries penalty as Paulsen fumbles

The first blow came from 12 yards, and it came wrapped in controversy.

Emmanuel Longelo was punished for handball in the box, a decision that drew furious protests from the visitors. Joe Westley stepped up, mask on, cheekbone fractured, leading the line in the middle of Dundee’s injury crisis.

Paulsen guessed right. He got both hands to the spot-kick.

It still ended up in the net.

The ball squirmed through him and over the line, Westley wheeling away while Motherwell’s goalkeeper stared at the turf in disbelief. It summed up Motherwell’s afternoon: close, but not nearly clean enough.

A second howler and a cruel spin

If that was bad, the second one hurt even more.

Ryan Astley whipped in a fierce cross from the right and Bradley Fink flung himself at it. His glancing header looked to be drifting wide. Paulsen clearly thought so, already gesturing it past the post.

Then the ball bounced.

It skipped off the turf, spun wickedly, clipped the upright and dropped into the net. From harmless to 2-0 in a heartbeat, with Paulsen stranded and Motherwell’s bench stunned.

Dundee barely needed an invitation. Motherwell had just given them two.

Motherwell’s control, Dundee’s threat

From there, the pattern was brutal in its simplicity.

Motherwell had the ball. Almost all of it, for almost all of the second half.

They moved it neatly, probing around Dundee’s box, recycling possession, going side to side, trying to drag blue shirts out of position. The stats told the story: 81 entries into the final third.

Yet only 23 touches in the Dundee box.

For all the pretty patterns, Owen Goodman had long stretches with little to do. A couple of saves, a late flurry of corners to punch clear, but nothing like the pressure Motherwell’s possession promised.

Dundee, by contrast, needed far fewer forays to look dangerous. With just 36 entries into the final third, they matched Motherwell’s 23 box touches. When they broke, they broke with purpose.

Paulsen, seeking redemption, did at least deny Westley and Astley in quick succession to keep the scoreline alive. The damage, though, had already been done.

Lowry lifeline not enough

Alfred Johansson’s side did finally find a way through.

A cross into the area was brought under control by Alex Lowry, who shifted his feet smartly and fired past Goodman to drag Motherwell back into the contest. It was a composed finish in a game where composure had deserted his team at key moments.

The goal sparked a spell of renewed urgency. Motherwell pushed higher, pressed harder, and the Dundee box became a crowded, frantic place in the closing stages.

But the equaliser never came. For all the territory, all the passing and all the corners, the route to goal kept closing just when it mattered most.

Pressley’s patched-up side dig in

On the touchline, Steven Pressley cut a focused figure, scribbling furiously in his Moleskine notebook as his side went 2-0 up. He has called this injury-ravaged spell one of the most challenging periods of his coaching career.

He looked like a man watching a plan come together.

Dundee were disciplined, narrow, and stubborn. Happy to let Motherwell have the ball in front of them, they trusted their structure, their timing in the tackle, and their willingness to suffer without it.

When they did venture forward, they carried more conviction than their visitors. Westley, Fink, Astley – all carried a threat on limited service. All this with at least five first-choice players missing.

Pressley has spoken about how much he “loves” this group and their response to adversity. Performances like this explain why. Dundee climb to fourth and now have three weeks to rest, reset and, crucially, heal.

Motherwell’s worrying pattern

For Motherwell, the story is darker.

They look fragile at the back and hesitant in the areas that decide games. The numbers underline it: one of the poorest defensive records in the league, and an attack that shrinks just as the picture opens up.

Tawanda Maswanhise, last season’s top scorer, remains at the club, but the burden on his shoulders is heavy. In front of goal, the whole team looks tight, almost fearful. The ball reaches dangerous zones, then the courage seems to drain away.

A lot of nice passing. A lot of the ball. Nothing to show for it.

There is, just about, a sliver of perspective. Under Jens Berthel Askou last season, Motherwell also started slowly and sat on eight points after seven games – that time from five draws, one win and a single defeat.

Johansson’s style is easy on the eye. The structure is there, the patterns are there. But three defeats in a row and a soft centre at both ends of the pitch raise a sharper question:

How long can attractive football hold its appeal if Motherwell keep walking off with nothing?