Dundee United 0-3 Falkirk
Miller (3’) Kucherenko OG (22’) Graham (63’)
In the return from the international break, Dundee Utd hosted Falkirk at The CalForth Construction Arena with only 2 points separating the sides.
It was the away side who started with no time to waste, following a fast counter where the ball fell to Calvin Miller, whose shot was parried by Yevhenii Kucherenko in the Utd net; however Miller was able to tap in the rebound to give Falkirk the lead after only 3 minutes played.
Falkirk would continue to dominate, and 20 minutes later their second goal would come. Calvin Miller’s in swinging corner was dealt with horribly by the home side as Kucherenko punched the goal into his own net to double The Bairns lead.
Dundee Utd would start to show signs of life as Krisztian Kereztes’ effort would fall into the hands of former Dundee keeper Scott Bain, and Amar Fateh’s header would rattle off of the crossbar to give the Dundee side their best chance of the half thus far.
Referee Nick Walsh would blow for the halftime whistle as jeers rung around Tannadice giving manager Jim Goodwin much to think about as he prepared his side for a second half comeback.
Into the second half Kristijan Trapanovski and Ryan Strain would enter proceedings as former Dundee Utd striker Brian Graham was issued a yellow card for his offence on Keresztes, Walsh was called over to the VAR monitor but decided against brandishing the red card.
An hour into the game and Falkirk would once again gain control of the match, as good passing play from back-to-front led to an excellent pass from Calvin Miller to find Graham on the edge of the box, who cleverly rounded Kucherenko and passed the ball into the back of the net for Falkirk’s third goal of the match. This was Graham’s fourth goal of the season in all competitions since joining Falkirk in the summer.
Former United captain Ryan Edwards was subbed on for Falkirk to make his debut at his old stomping ground. Falkirk would expertly see out the final 15 minutes of play to secure an important 3 points and rebound from their disappointing draw to Livingston before the break. This win keeps Falkirk in fifth place, 1 point above Motherwell and only 2 points behind
Hibernian and Rangers are above them. They next face a trip to Ibrox next Sunday with the opportunity to move above an inconsistent Rangers with victory.
After an abject display, Dundee United find themselves out of the top 6 in seventh place, 4 points adrift of Motherwell and 3 points ahead of eighth-placed Aberdeen. They prepare for a trip to Rugby Park as they play Kilmarnock next Saturday evening.
Dundee United: Kucherenko; Iovu, Esselink, Keresztes; Stephenson, Sevelj, Sibbald, Ferry; Dolcek, Sapsford, Amar Fatah.
Subs: Strain, Trapanovski, Möller, Watters
Falkirk: Bain; Adams, Henderson, Allan, Lissah; Tait, Spencer; Wilson, Williams, Miller; Graham.
Subs: Cartwright, Edwards, Agyeman, Ross, Oliver
Attendance: 9,736
