Motherwell battled back from two goals down to draw 2-2 and deny Craig Levein a winning start with St Johnstone in the cinch Premiership.
First-half goals from Nicky Clark and Andrew Considine at McDiarmid Park had the hosts on course for a second straight league success, but two goals in the space of six minutes levelled matters.
Shane Blaney headed in with 22 minutes left and then Mika Biereth turned home to complete the comeback.
Both teams sides would spurn opportunities in the final minutes, meaning they both remain in a struggle at the foot of the league table.
St Johnstone stay bottom, though have reduced the gap between themselves and Livingston in 11th to two points, while Motherwell have jumped one place to eighth – one point ahead of Hibernian having played a game more.
Levein made one change for his first game in charge, Daniel Phillips replacing the suspended Dara Costelloe.
Well, who had lost six of their last seven Premiership encounters, started Stephen O’Donnell and Callum Slattery with Paul McGinn missing out due to a facial injury and Theo Bair dropping to the bench. Despite both sustaining suspected broken noses at the weekend, both Calum Butcher and Brodie Spencer were deemed fit to start.
Motherwell had the ball in the net with the first opportunity of the match, Conor Wilkinson taking advantage of confusion between Considine and Dimitar Mitov, although the striker’s joy would be short-lived after he was adjudged to have handled before flicking the ball past the home keeper.
Graham Carey had a strike from distance deflected wide before the hosts took the lead from from the resulting corner.
Matt Smith picked out Clark, who made no mistake in heading beyond Liam Kelly from close range with 17 minutes on the clock.
A crucial intervention from Spencer spared the blushes of Blaney, the Irish defender caught in possession and Chris Kane looked likely to take full advantage until denied by a last-ditch tackle.
It would not be long before the second goal arrived as Carey’s 27th-minute corner eventually dropped at the feet of Considine who blasted home.
The visitors were in desperate need of a response and they almost got a goal back when Slattery connected with Blair Spittal’s corner but Luke Robinson cleared off the line.
Bair replaced Spencer at half-time and was involved in a neat passing move that almost led to Biereth turning in Spittal’s cross at the back post shortly after the restart.
The substitute was the architect again with 23 minutes remaining, almost picking out Wilkinson after a bursting run forward.
Motherwell reduced the deficit a minute later after Blaney found the net following a good header across the face of goal by Wilkinson.
The goal appeared to inject renewed life into Kettlewell’s side and Casey’s header from Spittal’s corner drifted agonisingly past the post, just before they grabbed an equaliser on 74 minutes.
A sweeping attack ended with an excellent cross from Georgie Gent that was steered beyond Mitov by Biereth.
Kelly had to be alert to tip over Smith’s acrobatic effort with minutes left on the clock, while at the other end Spittal worked the Saints keeper with a low drive.
Stevie May really should have grabbed a dramatic winner in the first minute of added time, but his front-post header sailed off target.
Inzaghi demands more from Inter after narrow win over Torino
Inter must improve defensively if they are to go on and retain their Serie A crown this season, so says Simone Inzaghi.
Marcus Thuram's hat-trick propelled Inter to a 3-2 victory over 10-man Torino on Saturday.
It was Inter's second 3-2 win on the spin in Serie A, moving them up to second.
Inter only conceded seven shots, but five of those were on target, with Torino's 1.61 expected goals (xG) showing the visitors created decent openings at San Siro, where Nikola Vlasic converted a late penalty to set up a grandstand finale.
"Clearly, we need to improve in some aspects, we pay a heavy price for every tiny distraction," said Inzaghi, who has seen Inter concede two goals in successive league matches for the first time since May 2023.
"We worked really hard on details that need to be whittled down, the lads have great spirit, but considering everything we did today, today's game shouldn't have ended 3-2.
"Seeing a team perform like this in three matches makes me want to congratulate these guys. We need to keep working the way we are, and in our penalty area, we all need to be more attentive.
"We're working on it, and we need to do more. Over the past two days, the team has trained extremely well, and we're trying to pay even more attention to the finer details."
Hat-trick hero Thuram, meanwhile, says the entire team must step up when it comes to defending.
"It's also the fault of the attackers, not just the defenders or the goalkeeper," he said.
"We are eleven players on the pitch and not conceding goals is part of everyone's job. We will try to improve in the upcoming games.
"There’s a lot of work, especially in the penalty area. For me, scoring is always a great feeling, but I always want to remain a player who helps the team above all."
Thuram's haul was the third time he has scored at least twice in a match this season, matching Erling Haaland.
Indeed, in 2024, only Juventus' Dusan Vlahovic has scored more Serie A goals than Thuram (13).
Real Madrid's Carvajal confirms serious knee injury
Real Madrid's Dani Carvajal could be set to miss the rest of the season after suffering a cruciate ligament injury.
Carvajal had to be taken off late on in Saturday's LaLiga meeting with Villarreal, which Madrid won 2-0 thanks to goals from Federico Valverde and Vinicius Junior.
The 32-year-old and the club subsequently confirmed he will have to go under the knife.
"Serious cruciate ligament injury confirmed, I'll have to undergo surgery and be off the field for a few months," Carvajal said on Instagram.
"Looking forward to starting the recovery process and coming back like an animal. Thank you all for your messages, I feel very loved."
After the match, Carlo Ancelotti said: "It looks like a pretty serious knee injury, the dressing room is sad and worried.
"It's something that happens a lot of times because of the calendar and it's happened to a very important player for us.
"He is a fundamental player for us because of his experience.
"I've been talking to him and he's sad, but there's not much we can do. We are going to see the medical evaluation and think about him recovering. The doctor has told us that he has to do tests, but that it's a knee injury."
Asked how he may replace Carvajal in Madrid's starting XI, Ancelotti said: "We have Lucas Vazquez, but it's not the time to talk about this.
"We are going to wait and if the injury is serious we are going to manage the squad well and see who we put in this position. It will not be me."
Vinicius also suffered an injury against Villarreal, with Madrid confirming the Brazil star had a cervical issue.
The victory took Los Blancos level on points with Barcelona at the summit of LaLiga, ahead of the Blaugrana facing Deportivo Alaves on Sunday.
Portland Timbers v FC Dallas: Neville hopes to bounce back and clinch play-off spot
Portland Timbers coach Phil Neville is “looking forward to bouncing back” after a defeat to Austin FC, as a win or a draw against FC Dallas will be enough to secure a place in the MLS playoffs.
Portland fell to a 1-0 defeat at home to Austin, who they are vying with for the final play-off spot in the Western Conference.
While The Timbers will have a second chance to secure their spot against the Seattle Sounders should they fail to gain points against Dallas, Neville will hope to enter the final day with it already wrapped up.
Portland currently sit six points ahead of Austin, meaning a draw against Dallas will be enough.
“We’re looking forward to bouncing back,” Neville told the press. “We’ve qualified for the playoffs barring a miracle.
“We’ve got to return to what we do best and that’s put on a convincing show at home on Sunday.”
The man in the opposition dugout, Peter Luccin, is far more disappointed with his side's recent defeat, which saw them mathematically ruled out of playoff contention.
Dallas lost 3-2 to the San Jose Earthquakes midweek, which puts them eleventh in the table and out of reach of their opponents.
Luccin’s side had kept the scores level at 1-1 until the 79th minute when San Jose scored two in quick succession before Dallas pulled one back. It left the interim head coach frustrated with the display.
"[I’m] very disappointed, very sad, mad at the same time. With Austin beating Portland, our scenario was perfect, winning this game and going to Portland just five points away and trying to beat Portland. It’s so disappointing,” he said, via Big D Soccer.
“The goal that we conceded, the chances that we missed. Very, very disappointed. I haven’t had time to talk with the players, it is a night to suffer a little bit. We didn’t take care of business and it’s all on us.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Portland Timbers – Evander
Attacking midfielder Evander has the second-most assists in the league with 14 in 26 appearances, only behind FC Cincinnati’s Luciano Acosta, who has 16 in 30 appearances.
The Brazilian ranks joint-sixth in the league for chances created having produced 81 across the season, while he has also scored 15 goals.
Dallas - Peter Musa
Musa is the top goalscorer for Dallas this season (15), with three times the number of goals than his highest-scoring team-mate, Paul Arriola.
He was on the scoresheet last time the two sides met in a high-scoring encounter that saw Dallas win 3-2.
MATCH PREDICTION: PORTLAND TIMBERS WIN
Portland have lost just one of their 15 all-time home matches against Dallas (W9 D5), going unbeaten in the last seven (W4 D3).
Dallas have scored just two total goals in those seven visits, following a 3-1 victory in their only win at Portland in April 2016.
Despite failing to score at home on Wednesday, Portland’s 39 goals at Providence Park this season in the MLS is their most in a single regular season since the club joined the league in 2011.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Portland Timbers – 54.2%
Draw – 23.5%
Dallas – 22.3%
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
