Dundee United boss Jim Goodwin insisted the red card that reduced Falkirk to 10 men and proved the turning point in his side’s 3-2 William Hill Premiership comeback win was the correct call.
Liam Henderson was dismissed in the 69th minute after referee Ryan Lee was nudged by VAR to take a second look at his foul on Max Watters.
Falkirk players argued that Lewis Neilson was among the defenders who could have caught Watters, but Goodwin was convinced a goalscoring opportunity was denied by the cynical foul.
Substitute Julius Eskesen took advantage of Falkirk’s reduced personnel by scoring an 83rd-minute winner.
“The referee gave a yellow card initially, but Max is away,” said Goodwin. “He’s quicker than the defenders Falkirk have got there at the back.
“I didn’t think the covering defender was going to make it round.
“I felt if Max had got by Henderson, he would’ve been one-on-one with the goalkeeper.
“We haven’t had a great deal of luck of late with those types of decisions, so it was nice to be on the receiving end of a positive one.”
Falkirk twice conceded soon after taking the lead. On-loan Aston Villa midfielder Ben Broggio gave John McGlynn’s side a 17th-minute advantage but Ross Graham pounced on a Scott Bain drop to equalise seven minutes later.
Filip Lissah netted his second Falkirk goal from close range early in the second half but the hosts could only hold on for two minutes. Craig Sibbald’s superb finish against his former club made it 2-2 before the red card shifted momentum.
United gained their first league points of 2026 to retain an outside chance of reeling in Falkirk for a top-six place.
The Bairns still boast an 11-point advantage over the Tangerines, who have two matches in hand.
“It’s a massive result off the back of the poor run we’ve been on,” Goodwin said. “We all understood the importance of the game.
“We’ve closed the gap on Falkirk by three points and we’ve a couple of games in hand on them.
“If we can go and perform like that – on the offensive front – in weeks to come, then we give ourselves a good chance of continuing this fight for top six.
“Albeit we’ve given ourselves a mountain to climb, we won’t stop trying.
“I’m delighted with the result, we won’t get carried away, there are elements to improve on.
“But the players showed great character, resilience to come back on a couple of occasions and go on to get three points.”
Falkirk boss McGlynn felt his team just weren’t themselves, saying: “We’ve not lost goals like that, we’ve not been making errors like that and we’ve not been getting players sent off.
“We can’t be too harsh on the boys because they’ve been great.
“We feel a little bit hard done by but you don’t always get everything going your way.”
