Jim Goodwin was full of praise for both sets of players following a hard-fought contest at Tannadice.
Goodwin said: “I thought it was a terrific game of football, and I think both sets of players deserve a huge amount of credit. The conditions were tough; the pitch was getting heavier and heavier as the game went on, but I thought there was real quality from both teams in certain moments of the game. Aberdeen, no doubt, will be extremely disappointed given what they put into the game to not have taken a point at least, but credit has to go to my players for the way that they dug deep and, in the latter stages of the game, defended the box brilliantly and looked really dangerous on the counterattack, and to have the strength of character to be able to suffer the disappointment of that third goal being chalked off for offside, to then show the resilience to defend the box when we had to but to go and get that winner late on was absolutely fantastic, so I couldn’t be any happier. It’s a massive result for the players; it’s a big result for the supporters as well. It was a great turnout here, from both sets of supporters, in a really tough afternoon weatherwise and just really, really pleased that we came out on the right side of it.
Dundee United thought they hit the front just past the hour mark when Sapsford got on the end of Randall’s cutback, but, following a VAR review, the goal was ruled out after Daniel Bennie was judged to be interfering with play, and the United boss believes that VAR got that decision wrong.
He stated: “I think the reason the referee was called to the monitor was because it was one of those subjective decisions; I think some referees will give it and others won’t. Of course, being a little bit biased, I’m probably going to say that I don’t think the goalkeeper was saving it. I don’t think Daniel Bennie could do a great deal else, other than what he done, the actual passage of play within it was brilliant; we get a little bit of luck in terms of when Bert (Esselink) passes the ball into Lyall Cameron, but the pass after that was excellent, break lines, quick ball round the corner, and Jessie Randall utilising his pace. I thought he was brilliant all afternoon, and the movement from Sapsford in the box is exactly why we put him back in the team, and it was a brilliant, brilliant finish, so I think that was a major blow to the players, but credit to them, as I said, they didn’t allow that to impact them, and they managed to find a way to win.
On Sapsford’s goal, which did count: “We all know that Zach Sapsford is very good in and around the penalty area. Metsoko hasn’t come out of the team because of his performances; we just always felt that Zach has enjoyed this type of fixture. He’s been waiting patiently for an opportunity to play through the middle, and he got that today, and I thought his all-round game was good. He didn’t get a huge amount of service at times, but when he did, you could see what he’s capable of, with the offside goal and obviously the winning goal. I think my analyst deserves a huge amount of credit as well. Players get lots of pats on the back, but the analyst did highlight that big space between the Aberdeen centre backs at times, and I think when you watch it back, you’ll see the delivery is right into that area. Sapsford’s movement is excellent, off the shoulder of the back centre half and it’s a brilliant header.
On the frustration of the goals conceded: “There’s frustration for both goals, obviously. I’m sure every manager will say that when you concede a goal you think there’s always something you could have done better. The first goal we give away a needless free kick out on the far side, then we don’t defend the box well enough, we don’t react and pick up second balls, and of course the start to the second half was really poor from us. Excellent from Aberdeen, penned us back, they turned us around before the game. They wanted to come down the hill in the second half, and we couldn’t get out of our own area for the opening ten-minute period; that’s what led to the goal. Of course, we can defend that situation better, but I thought Aberdeen deserved it at that point, but look, Aberdeen are a good side. I watched them when they went to Motherwell and won 4-0 and watched them last weekend, where, okay, they didn’t play particularly great in the first half, made changes, and then against St Mirren, they managed to win the game comfortably, so I don’t think the talent they have in the team should be underestimated. Nisbet at the top end is one of the best strikers in the league, Armstrong, Connor Ronan, real quality throughout their team, so I think it shows where we’re at and where we’ve got to that we can win a game like that, which is very pleasing.
Dundee United now sit in 4th, one place above their city rivals, but Goodwin admits he is disappointed that his side are not sitting on more than fifteen points.
Goodwin said: “Fifteen points from the opening eleven is a decent return; we are a little bit disappointed not to have maybe another two, possibly three points. We dropped a couple of points last weekend in Perth. With the greatest of respect to St Johnstone, I thought we were the better team on the day and should have won. And out here against Falkirk, we had plenty of opportunities to score more than the one goal that we did. I could be greedy and say we feel we could be on seventeen, possibly nineteen points, but to be sitting where we are in the league table right now is very pleasing, but by no means are we going to start relaxing and feeling comfortable in that position, because you only need to look at four or five of the teams down below us there’s not a lot between anybody at this stage, so a massive game on Wednesday. The boys have put a hell of a lot into that game in terms of effort on a really heavy pitch, so we’ll need to be careful with our team selection on Wednesday to make sure we don’t get any injuries.
Zidane Iqbal has enjoyed a stellar start to his Dundee United career and managed to get his first goal for the club in Saturday’s win, and Goodwin was full of praise for not only him but for all three midfielders.
He said: “All three midfielders have had lots of plaudits over the last kind of couple of months and deservedly so; they’re all capable of scoring those types of goals, and we’re constantly encouraging to pull the trigger, especially on a tricky afternoon like today, but a hell of a finish from him. I thought all three goals were excellent, actually. The second set play, Dylan Tait’s goal, and then obviously the goal that we had chalked off and the goal that was eventually the winning goal. Really, really good goals, well worked, and it’s a massive three points for us because Aberdeen were only a point below us in the table coming into the game this afternoon, and it’s nice to open up that four-point gap now.
Michael Forbes is another player who has come in and had an excellent start to his United career, and Goodwin was full of praise for both him and Esselink, who have developed a great partnership.
The United boss said: “He’s had a lot of stitches at half time, and credit to the medical team for being able to do it in such a short period of time to get him back out there on the pitch, cause he’s a massive player for us. I think he’s been a terrific signing for the club and arguably one of the best defenders, statistically, in the league at the moment. Both him and Esselink have developed a great partnership; that’s why such key players like Ross Graham and Iovu can’t get in the team at the moment, but you need your defenders, your centre halves in particular, to put their head in where it hurts at times, and both him and Esselink, Bert has been kicked in the head a couple times in the second half, but they get up, they get on with it, they enjoy that side of the game, they showed a lot of resilience at times, and they played a massive part in us getting all three points.”
