Dundee United boss Jim Goodwin said Sunday’s 2-2 draw at home to city rivals Dundee “felt like a defeat” as he lamented his side’s missed opportunity to mark their return to the William Hill Premiership with a victory.
The newly-promoted Terrors led 2-1 through first-half goals from Kristijan Trapanovski and Miller Thomson either side of Seb Palmer-Houlden’s equaliser.
And they had a golden chance to stretch their lead in the 57th minute when Trapanovski went clean through on goal and clipped the ball over goalkeeper Jon McCracken, only to see Lyall Cameron race back to stop it crossing the line.
It proved pivotal as Dundee hit back to claim a point through a late Luke McCowan penalty after Ross Graham brought down Simon Murray.
“We’re disappointed, particularly when you look at that big moment at 2-1 where we caught Dundee on the counter-attack from their set-play and Trapanovski was through one-on-one,” said Goodwin.
“I’m not going to be over-critical of him because I thought he had a terrific game. The goalkeeper was about 18-20 yards out, so I would have preferred had he knocked the ball by the goalkeeper and rounded him and tapped it in, but he went for the audacious chip.
“It nearly came off but I suppose you have to give credit to the defending Dundee player for not giving up on it and getting back to clear it off the line just in time.
“If that goes in, it’s 3-1 and Dundee would have had a big mountain to climb. I think it gave them a lift that it didn’t go in and they threw everything at us in the second half.
“Over the piece, when I watch the game back later on, I’ll probably be thinking a draw was possibly a fair result.”
Goodwin also said that coins were thrown at him from some of the 3000 Dundee fans who were seated in the main stand.
“I’ve had three or four chucked at me throughout the game,” he said. “I spoke to the security guys downstairs and no doubt they’ll stick a report in to the SFA.
“It’s disappointing, it’s not the first time it’s happened here with the fans behind the dugout. It’s a game full of emotion but we don’t want that.”
Dundee boss Tony Docherty was disappointed his side did not go on and win the game after McCowan’s 79th-minute equaliser.
“I thought we were the team in the ascendency at the end,” he said.
“I had a feeling we were going to nick it. I think we had a couple of great chances towards the end.
“Curtis Main in front of goal, and the one from Simon Murray as well.
“Dundee United in the first half had obviously watched us, they’d tried to negate our strengths and I thought they did well with that.
“The character of the squad to come back from 1-0 down and 2-1 down speaks volumes of what I’ve got in there.”
Interim boss Stephen Frail expects Motherwell to appoint a new manager next week and admits their first job will be to lift the players’ confidence after a 3-0 mauling at home to Ross County.A double from Ronan Hale and Connor Randall’s last-minute strike secured an impressive victory for the Staggies at Fir Park.Defeat sees the Steelmen drop into the bottom half of the Premiership tab...
Mark Hughes heaped praise on goalkeeper Gabe Breeze after Carlisle picked up a vital point in the League Two relegation battle with a goalless draw against in-form Colchester at Brunton Park.Breeze made two excellent saves from Lyle Taylor as the Cumbrians ended a four-game losing run and the former Man City boss was astounded by the 21-year-old’s performance.He said: “The game had som...
Chesterfield boss Paul Cook launched a scathing attack on his play-off hopefuls after they surrendered an early lead to lose 3-1 at Sky Bet League Two table-toppers Walsall.The Spireites enjoyed a rapid start when Jamie Grimes’ eighth-minute header put them ahead against a wobbling Walsall side, who were winless in five matches with the chasing pack closing in.However, Bim Pepple and Dylan D...
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has allayed fears of an injury scare to top scorer Erling Haaland ahead of next week’s Champions League trip to Real Madrid.Haaland went down clutching his leg in the latter stages of the champions’ 4-0 Premier League thrashing of Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday and was immediately substituted.Losing the Norwegian would be a major blow to ...
Rotherham manager Steve Evans described Thomas Parsons’ performance as “atrocious” after the referee awarded a stoppage-time penalty from which Reading snatched a 2-1 victory in League One.Reading had led 1-0 at half-time through top scorer Harvey Knibbs but Sam Nombe levelled for Rotherham from a spot-kick in the 57th minute.With the game heading for a draw, Parsons adjudged Mil...
Michael Flynn believes his team can make a charge towards the League Two play-offs places after watching them come from 2-0 down to beat Barrow 3-2 at home.Matty Taylor scored twice before fellow substitute Ashley Hay hit the winner as the Robins continued their perfect home record in 2025.Cheltenham climbed to 13th in the table and sit eight points off seventh-placed Crewe with two games in hand....
Birmingham manager Chris Davies praised Jay Stansfield’s work ethic after he lit up St Andrew’s with the only goal of a 1-0 win to sink play-off chasing Charlton.Stansfield’s 23rd-minute strike stretched City’s lead to nine points ahead of second-placed Wycombe, with Blues boasting a game in hand.Victory was City’s 30th in all competitions as they extended their unbea...
Andoni Iraola refused to get carried away after Bournemouth fans were left dreaming of a potential Champions League adventure following a first league double over south-coast rivals Southampton.Travelling Cherries fans chanted of playing in European football’s premier competition next season after their side soared to fifth spot in the Premier League table thanks to a deserved 3-1 success at...
Norwich head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup praised his side for fighting back to draw 1-1 at Hull after he demanded “I want to see my football team back”.The Norwich boss had some tough words for his team as they trailed 1-0 at half-time to the relegation-threatened side, including for Kellen Fisher – but the player then delivered the assist for Josh Sargent’s equaliser.The Un...
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers says Jota has a chance of starting against Bayern Munich after scoring and impressing in a 3-0 victory over Dundee United.Jota earned the club’s man-of-the-match award after cutting in from the left and curling home from 18 yards to double the lead given to the hosts by another impressive finish from Callum McGregor.The Portuguese winger has now started two gam...
