Motherwell 2, St Johnstone 1: Well hold on to joint-fourth with solid win

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Motherwell kept pace with Dundee United in the Premiership with a good win over St Johnstone at Fir Park that keeps them joint-fourth.Goals from Tawanda Maswanhise and Tom Sparrow had Motherwell comfortably ahead 2-0 at the break, with Nicky Clark halving the deficit with a controversial penalty.While Maswanhise's headed opener in 20 minutes was slightly against the run of play, St Johnstone didn't have a lot of chances for their possession.That gave Motherwell something to build on and they went close to adding a second, seconds before Sparrow did in 33 minutes, with a terrific shot.VAR handed St Johnstone a lifeline in 57 minutes when they decided that a shot that was driven off Andy Halliday from close range was a penalty.Nicky Clark stepped up and confidently dispatched the spot-kick into the left corner, bringing Saints into a game that they otherwise weren't in.Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell made one change from the side that lost 2-1 to Rangers in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final, as suspended Liam Gordon was replaced by Tom Sparrow.His St Johnstone counterpart Simo Valakari made twi changes from the team that lost 2-1 to Hearts last weekend.

Goalkeeper Josh Rae came in for Ross Sinclair, while Matt Smith replaced Benji Kimpioka.St Johnstone nearly took the lead in unorthodox fashion in seven minutes when Graham Carey's low cross from the right wing zipped about a foot past the left post corner.Clark fired over following a flowing St Johnstone move in 10 minutes.Halliday tried his luck from just outside the box in 15 minutes, but his shot was well held by Rae.But Motherwell took the lead in 20 minutes when Steve Seddon sent Marvin Kaleta down the right wing and his cross was headed in at the back post by