photo; one lucky wee girl getting Goodwillie's match worn top after the match
Starting XI (Dundee United): Cierzniak, Wilson, Robertson, Paton, Souttar, Gunning, Mackay-Steven, Rankin, Ciftci, Gauld and Armstrong
Subs: Dillon, Butcher, Goodwillie, Graham, Erskine, Dow and McCallum
Booked: Robertson
Subs Used: Dillon, Graham and Goodwillie
Starting XI (Hibernian): Williams, Forster, McGivern, Robertson, Nelson, Hanlon, Cairney, Craig, Collins, Heffernan and Stevenson
Subs: Tudur-Jones, Maybury, Handling, Murdoch, Stanton, Zoubir and Cummings
Booked: Robertson
Subs Used: Stanton and Tudur - Jones
My Men of the Match: John Rankin and Paul Paton
Dundee United don't make any chances to the starting eleven that went down 2 goals to 1 against Aberdeen on New Years day. Hibernian make one change to the team that won 2 goals to 1 in the Edinburgh Derby on the 2nd January, Cummings getting swapped for Heffernan.
A delay coming from a Craig injury saw the match delayed for a couple of minutes. After this delay, for the next 10 - 15 minutes it was mostly Hibs that were playing the better football. With two chances coming from Collins and only one from Ciftci.
Leading up to the opening goal, it looked like Hibs were going to get the early lead and it came in the 37th minute.
Goal 1 (Hibernian, Liam Craig, 37th Minute): A bad pass from United sees Heffernan, pass the ball through to Craig. Who becomes one on one with Cierzniak. He blasts it past into the back of the net.
Goal scorer Craig had another injury which delayed the match again. However, this was the last action of the match and Hibs went into the break with a one goal advantage.
photo; Robertson in action
Half Time Dundee United 0 - 1 Hibernian
United started off the second half like the stronger team, with Gauld, Armstrong and Rankin all getting chances but all missing their chances. Heffernan also missed his chance.
With no other action occurring before Souttar gave away a penalty to Hibs.
Goal 2 (Hibernian, Penalty, Liam Craig, 60th Minute): A push down from Souttar, allowing Craig to get a penalty. He steps up to the spot. Slots it home with Cierzniak being send the wrong way and United trail 2 goals to none.
With United finding themselves two goals down they showed that they really needed to get back into the game so they can at least gain a point out of it. Corners, free kicks and attempts. Nothing coming of them though. This repeated throughout the next 20 minutes until United gained a goal back.
Goal 1 (Dundee United, David Goodwillie, 82nd Minute): Ball drops from a long pass from the defence. It drops to the path of Goodwillie, who passes it back to Graham. Graham goes into the box, squares it to Goodwillie who puts it into the back of the net to bring United back into the game. This could potentially be his last goal in a United shirt at Tannadice.
With United now 2-1 down they only needed one more goal to gain at least a point from the game. An attempt from Mackay-Steven was just wide of the post. A shot from Rankin was just to high.
Goal 2 (Dundee United, Brain Graham, 90th Minute): A fabulous cross from Dillon, allows Goodwillie to have a shot. It just goes short to Graham who is waiting on the 6 yard line. Manages to slot it home and United are back level as we approach full time.
Full Time Dundee United 2 - 2 Hibernian
photo; GMS and Goodwillie, celebrating after Goodwillie scoring his goal.
A game that changed rapidly throughout the 90 minutes. It ended up being an even game in the end and United finally managed to get back onto winning ways starting with a draw. They now go into the two away games up in the Highlands on a happier note than the last few games.
Attendance: 7862
My men of the match were Paul Paton and John Rankin because they work fantastic together. They both put so much effort into the game and know what to do while the rest of the team are trying to get into a space to gain possession. With them both being defencive midfielders they know how to defend the ball while they make sure the team are doing well. A brilliant partnership that I hope continues to be put into place for the remainder of the season and hopefully seasons to follow.
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