Dundee United wore down 10-man Falkirk to earn a 3-2 William Hill Premiership comeback victory and keep alive their slim hopes of finishing in the top half of the table.

The Bairns were twice pegged back by Jim Goodwin's side with Ben Broggio's opening effort cancelled out by Ross Graham, while former Falkirk midfielder Craig Sibbald levelled after Filip Lissah put the hosts ahead for the second time.

The hosts lost defender Liam Henderson to a red card after 69 minutes and United took clinical advantage of the defensive stalwart's absence.

Ryan Strain's deep cross was glanced down by Ivan Dolcek and substitute Julius Eskesen had space to angle a neat finish home for his first goal the club, with seven minutes remaining.

Sixth-placed Falkirk boast an 11-point advantage over United and Aberdeen but Goodwin's men have two games in hand.

In a bright start by the visitors, Graham saw his free header brushed over the crossbar by Scott Bain and - from the resulting corner - Sibbald drilled a low drive just inches wide.

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Falkirk discovered their flow to seize a 17th-minute lead. Dylan Tait forced a pass to the feet of Barney Stewart with his back to goal.

The big forward turned to feed Broggio, who was not closed down quickly enough. The Aston Villa loan star guided a 14-yard strike low to Ashley Maynard-Brewer's right to record his second goal for the Bairns.

A rare defensive calamity gifted United a leveller eight minutes later as Broggio's sliced clearance should have been a straightforward collect for Bain.

However, Henderson did not get out of his way and the collision coughed up the ball, while Graham was grateful for the offering and fired into an empty net.

United edged the rest of the half but a looping Lewis Neilson header dinked off the crossbar as the hosts went close before the break.

Falkirk were back in front after 53 minutes thanks to a full-back alliance.

Lissah swept play wide left for Leon McCann and made a beeline for the penalty box. The on-loan Swansea midfielder was not tracked and McCann picked him out to net from close range.

United hit back within two minutes as Zac Sapsford's blocked effort broke for Sibbald, 22 yards out.

He responded by caressing a superb finish into the bottom corner but refused to celebrate against his old club.

The VAR-inspired straight red for Henderson changed momentum for the remainder of the match.

The centre-back was initially cautioned for taking out Max Watters before referee Ryan Lee was beckoned to the monitor.

The advice - and evidence - was a goalscoring opportunity had been denied.

Former United defender Coll Donaldson was introduced to plug the gap for Falkirk, with Broggio sacrificed.

But the visitors found a way through their opponents' depleted ranks to win just their sixth league game of the campaign.

Goodwin: Falkirk red card correct decision

Dundee United boss Jim Goodwin:

"The referee gave a yellow card initially, but Max is away. He's quicker than the defenders Falkirk have got there at the back.

"I didn't think the covering defender was going to make it round. I felt if Max had got by Henderson, he would have been one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

"We haven't had a great deal of luck of late with those types of decisions, so it was nice to be on the receiving end of a positive one.

"It's a massive result off the back of the poor run we've been on. We all understood the importance of the game.

"We've closed the gap on Falkirk by three points and we've a couple of games in hand on them.

"If we can go and perform like that - on the offensive front - in weeks to come, then we give ourselves a good chance of continuing this fight for top six.

"Albeit we've given ourselves a mountain to climb, we won't stop trying. I'm delighted with the result, we won't get carried away, there are elements to improve on.

"But the players showed great character, resilience to come back on a couple of occasions and go on to get three points."

'Falkirk feel hard done by'

Fakirk boss John McGlynn:

"We've not lost goals like that, we've not been making errors like that and we've not been getting players sent off.

"We can't be too harsh on the boys because they've been great.

"We feel a little bit hard done by but you don't always get everything going your way."

What's coming up in the Scottish Premiership?

• Falkirk fixtures
• Dundee United fixtures

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