Livingston vs Motherwell. Scottish Premiership.
Tony Macaroni ArenaAttendance1,983.
Match report as Kevin van Veen scored the game's opening goal just two minutes into the contest from close range, equalling the club record set by Hugh Ferguson 103 years ago by scoring in his 10th consecutive match
Wednesday 24 May 2023 23:51, UK
Andrew Shinnie scored a late equaliser as 10-man Livingston fought back at home against Motherwell to secure a 1-1 draw in the Premiership.
Shinnie's 84th-minute strike, after being set up by skipper Nicky Devlin, capped off a resilient second-half display for the hosts.
Kevin van Veen scored the game's opening goal just two minutes into the contest from close range, equalling the club record set by Hugh Ferguson 103 years ago by scoring in his 10th consecutive match.
Livingston's goalkeeper Shamal George was sent off after 43 minutes following a collision with Van Veen outside of the area, but the hosts rallied to secure a late point.
Mikael Mandron cushioned the ball down and Van Veen fired home from inside the box to give Motherwell an early lead.
Despite both sides' safety guaranteed and seventh place being all that was on the line, the game developed into an end-to-end affair.
David Martindale's side showed their attacking impetus as they pushed for an equaliser before the interval, with two strikes from Stephen Kelly going close.
A whipped delivery from Paul McGinn failed to find Mandron but the attempted clearance fell kindly for Van Veen, whose powerful strike was blocked before Kelly again went close at the other end, only for his attempt to narrowly fizz over the bar.
As Motherwell tried to double their advantage, Van Veen raced onto a looping through ball and was clattered by the onrushing George.
After initially being shown a yellow card and the flag being raised for offside, a lengthy VAR check resulted in referee Chris Graham consulting the pitch-side monitor before dismissing the keeper.
After the interval Livingston continued to push for a leveller despite their numerical disadvantage, with Anderson's deflected effort falling kindly for Luiyi De Lucas, but the defender's strike was well defended.
Much of the second half failed to match the first 45's back and forth despite the man advantage for the visitors never becoming overly apparent as the hosts dug deep to find a route back into the game.
Their persistence paid off late on when Devlin slid the ball across the box for Shinnie to thump in the equaliser in what is set to be his final home appearance as the club's captain.
A late shot from Blair Spittal was dragged wide as both sides were left ruing missed opportunities throughout the 90 minutes.
Livingston boss David Martindale: "I thought it was a red in real time but I don't like this rule when somebody's offside and you make the challenge and in the old days, I'm saying the old days but six months ago, the flag goes up and everybody else stops and the ref blows the whistle.
"I think if the boy's offside - and I know the foul has been made - I'm not so sure the decision should still stand in terms of the foul. Maybe if it was extreme force or excessive force, yeah."
Martindale was pleased with the way his side improved as the game wore on, saying: "First half we were very, very passive, Motherwell turned it a lot and the front two worked very hard.
"I just thought it was a wee bit of a Jekyll and Hyde performance in terms of first half too passive, making bad decision, not aggressive enough and second half I thought the boys were fantastic."
Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell: "I thought we did more than enough in the first half, I thought we were the dominant team when it was 11v11.
"I felt we got stuck down one side in every attack we made in the second half and that's disappointing.
"Without trying to be too happy in a situation where I felt we should have got three points and a clean sheet, I just have to kind of focus on the run we've been on which has been amazing.
"We were a long way behind Livingston when I took over 13 games ago and we're still sitting a point ahead of them and still got a chance to get that seventh spot which is an amazing achievement in itself.
"I think in my time and we've had a look at this, Rangers are on about 28 points in the 13 games and we sit on 27 points so that maybe speaks for itself."
Livingston's final Scottish Premiership game of the season is away to St Johnstone on Sunday, while Motherwell host Ross County.
Both matches kick off at 12.30pm.
