Temuri Ketsbaia-inspired Dundee swept aside Motherwell with a super first half
display which was enough to allow them to approach the second 45 minutes with a
view to experimenting with tactics and personnel.
Two 25-yard shots from the Georgian were enough to see off a poor Motherwell
side that offered very little to the game and didn't deserve to take any
points.
Eric Black's men improved slightly in the second half but by this time the
game was beyond them.
Dundee overran Motherwell for much of the opening stages and took the lead as
early as four minutes through Georgian international Ketsbaia.
The Georgian international, who moved to Dens Park to replace Claudio
Caniggia, picked up the ball in the midfield and strode forward unchallenged
before unleashing a swerving shot from 25 yards that beat Stevie Woods.
They continued to press Motherwell and it took 17 minutes for the visitors to
create a chance of any note.
James McFadden forced Lee Wilkie into conceding a corner kick and, from the
dead ball, it appeared as though Massimo Beghetto handled but referee Tom Brown
was unimpressed and waved play-on.
However, Dundee strode up the field and doubled their lead through a carbon
copy of the opening goal.
Ketsbaia won a tackle in midfield, advanced forward until he was on almost the
exact spot from where he scored the first and hammered a drive past Woods.
Motherwell's defenders had clearly failed to learn from their first punishment
and their manager Eric Black wasted no time in telling them so.
The visitors did get a chance to get back into the game after Dirk Lehmann was
fouled in the box. But James McFadden, who expertly dispatched a spot-kick last
weekend, smacked the resulting penalty straight down the middle and against the
arm of Dundee goalkeeper Julian Speroni, who was delighted to see the ball spin
away to safety.
Dundee manager Ivano Bonetti chose to introduce Paraguayan striker Gerrardo
Traverso for his debut at the beginning of the second half.
However, it was former Newcastle and Wolves midfielder Ketsbaia who continued
to shine with his lung-bursting runs from midfield.
Time and again the Georgian international broke at pace, but he could not find
the net with a series of chips and long shots.
Ketsbaia was in such a confident mood he even tried a delightful scissors
kick, but could not find the target.
Traverso was withdrawn with 10 minutes remaining, much to the annoyance of the
home support, and was replaced with Alberto Garrido.
Dirk Lehmann was involved in a clash in the Dundee penalty area and had to be
stretchered off and replaced by Derek Adams.
The game petered out in the latter stages of the second half as both managers
tinkered with their line-ups and tactics.
The closing period had all the hallmarks of a classic end of season encounter
as both sides played with one eye on the clock.
Teams
Dundee: Speroni, Smith, Wilkie, Del Rio, Beghetto, Artero (Robertson 45), Rae, Torres, Ketsbaia, Sara, Caballero (Traverso 45), Traverso (Garrido 83).
Subs Not Used: Langfield, MacKay.
Booked: Del Rio.
Goals: Ketsbaia 5, 26.
Motherwell: Woods, Ready, Deloumeaux, Strong, Corrigan, Lasley, Martinez (Soloy 71), Ferrere (Elliott 70), Hammell, Lehmann (Adams 83), McFadden.
Subs Not Used: Brown, Pearson.
Booked: McFadden, Ferrere, Adams.
Att: 5,785
Ref: T Brown (Scotland).
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