Kilmarnock vs Dundee United; Scottish Premiership
Kilmarnock vs Dundee United. Scottish Premiership.
The BBSP Stadium, Rugby ParkAttendance4,263.
Kilmarnock 1-1 Dundee United: Tale of two penalties as spoils shared at Rugby Park
Report as Kilmarnock draw 1-1 with Dundee United at Rugby Park in the Scottish Premiership; Bruce Anderson and Craig Sibbald scored either side of half-time to ensure the spoils were shared
Saturday 29 November 2025 22:26, UK
Kilmarnock and Dundee United shared the spoils after an arduous 1-1 draw in Saturday’s evening kick-off in the Scottish Premiership.
It was the tale of two penalties with Max Watters missing from the spot for United early on before Bruce Anderson converted for the hosts on 33 minutes.
Craig Sibbald, however, equalised for the visitors with a smart finish just after the hour mark as Jim Goodwin's men salvaged a point to maintain seventh place in the league table.
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Both managers entered the fixture under significant pressure with Kilmarnock defeated in their previous six top-flight games, while Dundee United had just one win in seven league encounters.
The lack of confidence in both teams was evident during an uneventful opening 10 minutes, until the momentum of the game changed when Matthew MacDermind awarded the visitors a penalty on 13 minutes.
Despite an unnecessarily long VAR check, McDermind's original decision was correctly supported by the additional officials after Ethan Schlite Brown clumsily barged into the back of Krisztian Kerestez.
Max Watters stepped up confidently but his spot-kick was expertly saved by Tobi Oluwayemi. The Celtic loanee dived to his left and clawed away Watters' attempt to the delight of an anxious home support.
Dundee United were in the ascendancy in the opening twenty minutes and Will Ferry went close on 20 minutes when his curling effort sailed over the bar.
Kilmarnock offered almost nothing as an attacking threat until they were awarded a penalty just after the hour mark. After previously winning a spot-kick at the other end, Kerestez was harshly adjudged to have pushed Marley Watkins.
It appeared dubious but VAR backed up MacDermind's original decision. United keeper Dave Richards saved Anderson's initial tame effort but the Killie striker slammed home the rebound to give the hosts the lead.
Kilmarnock thought they'd doubled their advantage just two minutes later when Scott Tiffoney nodded home from close range but Watkins was penalised for a foul on the United goalkeeper.
Neither side offered an attacking threat for the remainder of the first half with Anderson's snapshot on 45 minutes the only half-chance of note.
There wasn't a notable goalscoring opportunity during the opening 15 minutes of the second half until Dundee United levelled on 63 minutes.
A well-worked move resulted in Zac Samford's cross ending up with Sibbald arrowing a composed finish into the bottom corner.
United were energised by their equaliser and gained momentum with Pantuche Camara excellent but they failed to truly test Oluwayemi in the Kilmarnock goal.
Nikoaj Moller's flicked effort from Ivan Dochek's cross on 80 minutes was easily collected by Oluwayemi before Killie almost snatched all three points when Dominic Thompson's free-kick flew just wide and both sides appeared completely content with a draw.
'I can't for the life of me believe that penalty was given'
Dundee United boss Jim Goodwin:
"The big talking point is the penalty kick that gets awarded to Kilmarnock. I can't, for the life of me, having watched it back now half a dozen times after the game, believe that we've been done with a decision like that.
"I don't understand how the referee is not called to the monitor to reassess the decision. And I think if he sees it again, I would be confident that he would have overturned it and not given the penalty.
"Obviously we missed one ourselves early on, but the players, I thought, showed exactly the reaction we were hoping for in the second half. Good, positive reaction, good character, much better in the second half, played the majority of the game in the Kilmarnock half and I was pleased in the end to get that all-important goal.
"I spoke to the referee at half-time and just asked what the reason was for the decision. He felt there was a clear push in the back. But I'm not being funny. If you're going to be given penalty kicks for that type of contact, then we're going to see two or three penalties a game.
"If it had been given in the middle of the pitch, I'd have been really disappointed. There's a slight coming together, but you're going to expect that. I just think it's a really, really poor, poor decision."
Kettlewell not satisfied with point
Kilmarnock boss Stuart Kettlewell:
"We didn't come here for a point today.
"We've come to obviously win the three points but I've said to the players that although we are disappointed, both sides wanted to win the game.
"We have to break the cycle that we got a point. Dundee United were always going to show a reaction to last week against Falkirk. So from that side, I think we'll sit in the cold light of day and say fine, but we know we can do more."
