Livingston had to settle for their second draw in a row against a Motherwell side who have now shared the points in three of their last four games. But this was a match heavily impacted by a great big dollop of VAR intervention after Livingston missed both a penalty and the subsequent retaken effort.
Penalties are a real problem for the West Lothian side this season: including Nicky Devlin’s two efforts yesterday, they have missed seven from the spot including their last five in a row. Motherwell also hit the bar twice and could do with turning those draws into wins having won just once in the league since October.
The point was better for the hosts than the visitors. It propels Livingston into the top six, but it means that Motherwell are now level on points with Dundee United in second-bottom spot.
The Livingston manager David Martindale admitted he was frustrated by his side’s penalty woes. He said: “That’s far too many missed opportunities via penalty kicks and we’ve actually been working on them. I’ll be putting my boots on next. I’ve never missed from 12 yards. It’s 12 yards unopposed!
“Nicky Devlin was the designated taker. We have done a bit of work on it at training but that’s clearly not worked. I won’t be doing that again.
Advertisement
“It spooked us. We lost control of the game. Motherwell get the boost and did the basics better than us. Our decision-making wasn’t great in terms of letting the ball bounce and giving away crap throw-ins that lead to corners.
“I’m disappointed in the result but it was fair. When you’re playing at home you always look to win.”
VAR once again took centre stage when Livingston were awarded a penalty in the 13th minute. A Cristian Montaño effort came off the arm of Rickie Lamie, with the referee David Munro pointing to the spot. The VAR official Colin Steven had a lengthy check and let it stand, but that was just the start of the fun and games. Nicky Devlin’s penalty was brilliantly saved by Liam Kelly but the Livingston captain bundled the rebound in. Again, Munro and Steven combined and the kick had to be retaken for encroachment by Kelly and for Devlin handling the ball while turning the rebound in, which led to a further delay.
Eventually, Kelly again made a fine save from Devlin’s second spot kick and, despite another check, play was allowed to continue, with the vast majority of the fans utterly bemused.
Livingston did finally make the breakthrough six minutes before the interval. A Stephen Kelly free-kick was nodded in by an unmarked Morgan Boyes at the back post.
Advertisement
But the lead lasted for just three minutes when a free kick into the box caused panic for Livingston. Although Sean Goss’ shot was saved by Shamal George, Kevin van Veen was on hand to turn home the rebound for his ninth goal of the season.
Motherwell twice hit the bar, through Van Veen in the first half and Connor Shields after the break, and had the better of the chances.
Steven Hammell, the Motherwell manager, believed his side should have taken all three points. He said: “It was frustrating because we came here to win the game. Once we got through the initial scrappy spells of the game and the VAR decisions, we had most of the game and I felt we dominated most of it after it.
“We had 17 shots on goal and hit the bar twice. and so I thought we did enough, especially in the second half, to come away with the three points. It’s about taking your chances and they weren’t half-chances, they were big chances and we fell short. That was the difference from winning this. We are looking to add some firepower to the team.”
Livingston (4-3-3): S George 6 — N Devlin 5, A Obileye 6, M Boyes 6, C Montaño 6 (S Bradley 46min, 7) — Sean Kelly 5, A Shinnie 5, Stephen Kelly 5 — D Bahamboula 6 (S Oméonga 59, 3), B Anderson 5 (E Gonçalves 90), J Penrice 5. Booked Montaño, Sean Kelly, Oméonga.
Advertisement
Motherwell (4-3-3): L Kelly 8 — P McGinn 5, S Solholm Johansen 6, R Lamie 6, M Penney 6 — C Slattery 5, S Goss 6, B Spittal 7 — C Shields 7 (S McKinstry 76), K van Veen 7, D Cornelius 5. Booked Slattery, Goss.
Referee D Munro. Attendance 2,163.
