Partick Th 3
Dundee Utd 0
League (Premiership)

Match Report

David Bowman took temporary charge of Dundee United for the game at Firhill after the sacking of Jackie McNamara. United made three changes from the defeat at McDiarmid Park the previous week, with Euan Spark, Ryan Dow and Darko Bodul coming in for Adam Taggart, Mark Durnan and Billy McKay. They were forced into an early change with Coll Donaldson replacing Callum Morris after only seven minutes.

In the 12th minute a Stuart Bannigan corner found Mathias Pogba unmarked in the penalty box, only for the Thistle forward to spectacularly volley the ball wildly over the bar. The home side took the lead two minutes later. A deflected Callum Booth cross from the left was met by David Amoo, who managed to outjump a hesitant Luis Zwick to head the hosts ahead. United came close to an immediate equaliser when Ryan Dow fired in a powerful right foot strike which was superbly saved by Tomas Cerny, who stretched to his right to turn the shot wide. In the 19th minute Amoo should have scored again after good work by Steven Lawless and Pogba carved open the United defence, but his low effort was blocked by Zwick. Zwick made another excellent save in the 25th minute when he produced a one-handed save to tip a dipping long range free-kick from Bannigan wide of his right hand post. From the resultant corner, taken by Bannigan, Daniel Seaborne saw his header smash off the crossbar, before then trundling wide after hitting Zwick on the back of the legs. Two minutes later and United came close again after Scott Fraser fired in a 25-yard volley which smacked off Tomas Cerny's right hand post.

It took only eight minutes of the second half for Thistle to double their lead as Mustapha Dumbuya scored with a cross from the right hand touchline which deceived Zwick in the United goal, who was perhaps put off by the attempt by Lawless to flick the ball home himself. With 65 minutes on the clock Partick Thistle wrapped up the points, as Pogba found Stuart Bannigan in the United box and his low drive evaded the despairing dive of Zwick to make it 3-0. The goal sealed the win for the home side and sent Dundee United to the bottom of the league.

Formation: 4-2-3-1
Captain: Seán Dillon
Arab Archive 'Man of the Match': Luis Zwick

Match Photos courtesy of Riki Grauer - More photos available at:
Dundee United Official Flickr Page