Motherwell 0 Dundee Utd 1

Motherwell defender Louis Laing's late own goal handed Dundee United their first three points of the Ladbrokes Premiership season. Laing sliced Paul Dixon's cross inside the near post to gift United the lead at Fir Park. Motherwell goalkeeper Connor Ripley had made some impressive saves in a tight match, but he was caught up the pitch after an injury-time corner and Simon Murray netted his first goal for United on the break as the visitors sealed a 2-0 win. Motherwell, who had Stephen Pearson missing with a knee injury, matched United's normal 4-2-3-1 formation and they started brightly. Marvin Johnson had a 20-yard strike pushed wide by Luis Zwick after some good possession and Scott McDonald soon had a long-range effort held. Motherwell had built on their emphatic play-off triumph over Rangers with a comfortable opening win over Inverness, but there was a strangely subdued atmosphere among the 4,859 fans and the tempo dropped on the field. Ripley finally made his first save as a Motherwell player in the 32nd minute, having enjoyed an easy clean sheet in the Highlands, and it was worth the wait. The on-loan Middlesbrough goalkeeper produced an acrobatic one-handed stop from Scott Fraser's powerful strike from 20 yards after the home defence failed to deal with a ball into the box. United remained on top for the rest of the half. Chris Erskine failed to get a good connection on a free header from Ryan McGowan's cross and Ripley made another decent stop from Charlie Telfer's well-struck shot from 25 yards. United also had a penalty claim rejected when the ball appeared to bounce up and hit Joe Chalmers' hand following Blair Spittal's corner. The game burst to life 11 minutes into the second half with clear chances at both ends. Erskine showed pace and awareness to play in Telfer, but Ripley came out quickly and blocked brilliantly. Motherwell broke from the resulting corner as McDonald played Johnson clean through. The winger had to run from his own half and Zwick saved with his foot. Motherwell had another great chance 60 seconds later, but Chalmers lacked conviction and sliced wide after just beating Zwick to Josh Law's cross. The hosts stayed on top and had a penalty claim rebuffed when a shot from substitute Dom Thomas seemed to strike John Souttar's hand. Zwick tipped over after another sub, Louis Moult, headed on target from a difficult angle. The pressure eased, though, and some slack play from Laing and Law allowed Aidan Connolly a shot from a tight angle, but Ripley stood up well. However, there was nothing the goalkeeper do moments later after another mistake from Laing. Ripley was in the United box as Motherwell gave everything in their hunt for an equaliser, but Robbie Muirhead and Connolly broke clear before Murray shot past the retreating goalkeeper, although the assistants appeared to miss an offside decision in the build-up.