Boss Jim Goodwin revealed Louis Moult took an injection in his troubled shoulder before climbing off the bench to give Dundee United a 1-0 win over St Mirren with a stunning overhead kick.
The 32-year-old striker replaced Glenn Middleton just after an hour of the William Hill Premiership game in Paisley for his first appearance in a month.
With two minutes of normal time remaining, Moult’s spectacular finish inside the Saints box had the travelling fans in raptures.
They celebrated again in added time when United goalkeeper Jack Walton saved a Toyosi Olusanya penalty, with the Tannadice men moving four points behind second-placed Rangers having played two games more.
After claiming a “massive three points,” former Saints boss Goodwin said of his match winner: “We kind of wrapped him up in cotton wool on Friday.
“He joined in with the group but he was very much non-contact. The players were told not to go near him.
“He had an injection in his shoulder about two hours before kick-off to try and numb the pain and he made himself available.
“That’s the type of character he is. They’re the types of people we want at the club.
“He comes on in those big moments, and he’s a real natural goal scorer, and I don’t think he’ll have scored many better than that.
“The good strikers, their brain tends to work a little bit quicker than the rest of ours and he just recognised that situation and managed to pop the ball up into the air. A brilliant technique.
“I would imagine the shoulder he landed on would be pretty sore once that injection wears off but it’s all worth it.
“It happened in front of our own supporters as well, a great travelling support. He gets booked for his celebrations but the emotions got the better of him for jumping into the crowd. A great moment, a great feeling for the group.
“Not only does it open up that gap between ourselves and St Mirren to 10 points, it also pushes us that little bit closer to Rangers as well.”
St Mirren dropped to seventh in the table with a fourth straight defeat – and a fourth successive loss to United this season – and Buddies boss Stephen Robinson bemoaned another penalty miss.
Mark O’Hara, twice, Greg Kiltie and Olusanya have failed from the spot this season, albeit O’Hara’s miss against St Johnstone had to be retaken with Roland Idowu scoring.
The Northern Irishman said: “There were a lot of positives to take from the game.
“We played in large parts but we have lost goals like that previously and we did it again.
“Credit to Dundee United, they win games like that and don’t concede like that.
“It’s a battle of both boxes and we didn’t come out on top of that.
“Our penalty taker went off, Roland Idowu, so Toyosi was brave to step up.
“I will give him credit for that but, ultimately, we have maybe cost ourselves nine, maybe 12 points from missed penalties and situations.
“People miss chances and there isn’t much you can do about that.”
