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DUCT x CIF | Re-Kicking Dundee!
24th April 2024
The Terrors tore to a two goal triumph on an entertaining evening at Tannadice.
Dundee United set out in an aggressive 4-4-2, with pacy loanee Luke Bolton providing width on the left, and championship champion Paul McMullan mirroring the threat on the right. The team seemed to be sitting higher up the park, too, and no Killie player could get a moment on the ball without a tangerine shirt nipping away and applying pressure in the opening stages.
Jamie Robson provided a thrilling attack early on, picking up the ball in his own half and charging up the hill towards the Shed end. Mark McNulty provided him the option, and Robson played him in with precision. McNulty, marked but cutting himself a yard of space, fired off a shot. It was swallowed up by Rodgers in the Kilmarnock goal, but the attacking formation was already bearing fruit.
Kilmarnock had yet to score a goal in their three December fixtures, and in the opening twenty minutes they were working hard to end this barren run. Burke provided the best chance of the opening period, putting in a cross to Greg Kiltie, who passed the ball harmlessly wide of Siegrist.
On twenty-five minutes, United reaped their deserved reward. Mark McNulty, whose frenetic start to the game more than justified his nickname ‘Sparky’, latched on to a ball at the edge of the box, played it forward and struck it sweetly across the goalie for United’s opener.
Tannadice had only just stopped echoing to the sound of McNulty’s goal music when the tannoy was blaring out in celebration of a second United success. Bolton was drifting down his wing on 27 minutes in possession, when manager Micky Mellon bellowed ‘Go Luke Go Luke!’. Off Luke Bolton went, leaving his marker trailing with his pace. He reached the box and slammed a ball across to where the deadly Lawrence Shankland was waiting. The star striker turned his man and slid the ball home. Two-nil United within half an hour.
Kilmarnock offered regular threats, and they concluded the half with a final futile attack on goal, shooting wide once again.
The second half saw a desperate away team throw the kitchen sink at the Dundee United rearguard. Killie mustered shots through Kiltie and Waters, and several set pieces required stout defence. United kept the visitors goalless for the first hour without Siegrist needing to make any of his trademark big saves.
Dundee United maintained their heavy aggression, with now Shankland, now McNulty sprinting at the Kilmarnock goalie whenever he dallied on the ball, and every rushed Killie clearance being contested in the centre of the part. Fuchs in particular stood out, the Cameroonian midfield machine providing energy and industry and doing some really the hard work.
The Terrors nearly made it three on 76 minutes. The freshly arrived Nicky Clark burst on to a ball, carried it from midfield into the box and fired a ball on the goal. Rodgers made a blocking save, and Paul McMullan leapt upon the scraps. The attacker slipped as he was felled by a defender, leading to loud penalty claims which the referee Steve McLean waved away.
United saw the game out in relative comfort, gifting a very welcome three points into the Christmas stockings of every Arab across the world.
UNITED: Siegrist, L. Smith, Connolly, Reynolds ©, Robson (AG), Fuchs, Butcher, Bolton, McMullan, Shankland, McNulty. SUBS: Deniz, Harkes, Clark, Sporle, Powers, Neilson (AG), Pawlett, Edwards.
KILLIE: Rodgers, Dikamon, Broadfoot ©, Findlay, Waters, Powers, Tshibola, Kiltie, Burke, McKenzie, Brophy. SUBS: Doyle, Taylor, Mulumbu, Pinnock, Kambamba, Whitehall.
