St. Johnstone and Motherwell share four goals at McDiarmid Park
A 2-2 draw on MatchDay 11 of the Scottish Premiership, with the scoring spread across both halves and settled by a goal in the 93rd minute.
By Harvey Watkins,
St. Johnstone and Motherwell finished level at 2-2 at McDiarmid Park on Wednesday evening, a MatchDay 11 fixture in the Scottish Premiership that produced four goals and was not decided until stoppage time. The two sides shared the points, and the order of the scoring explains why the final whistle arrived with honours even.
How the goals fell
- 19 minutes: Taylor Steven
- 34 minutes: Ibrahim Said
- 54 minutes: Tawanda Maswanhise
- 93 minutes: Josh Campbell
Taylor Steven opened the scoring after 19 minutes, and Ibrahim Said added the second goal of the evening 15 minutes later. That meant two goals before the interval, and the match was already more open than many midweek fixtures manage in 90 minutes.
The shape of the second half can be read from the final score. Because the match finished 2-2, Tawanda Maswanhise's goal nine minutes after the restart must have given one side a 2-1 lead. No other arrangement fits the final score. From the 54th minute onwards, one team was ahead and the other was chasing.
The stoppage-time equaliser
That lead lasted until the 93rd minute, when Josh Campbell scored. Since the match ended level, his goal can only have been an equaliser. It came after 39 minutes of play in which the side in front had held on, and it arrived beyond the 90-minute mark, which is about as late as a point can be rescued or lost.
For one side, a draw secured that late will feel like a point gained. For the other, it is two points let slip after protecting a lead for most of the second half. The scoreline is identical for both, but the experience of reaching it was very different.
What one result can and cannot show
A single draw is thin ground on which to build conclusions about either team. Four goals point to a match in which both attacks found a way through and neither defence managed to shut the game down. A late equaliser points to persistence on one side, or to a failure to see the game out on the other, and usually to some of both.
Beyond that, it would be stretching the evidence to call this a turning point or a warning sign for either club. What can be said is that St. Johnstone and Motherwell were level after 90 minutes of fluctuating football, with a goal from Josh Campbell in stoppage time ensuring that neither left McDiarmid Park with the win.