Dundee United had to do one thing and one thing only – win this match.
After suffering back-to-back defeats from Falkirk in the league and Morton in the Betfred Cup, they simply had to beat the Greenock men in this Championship clash at Tannadice.
They duly obliged and it almost didn’t matter how they achieved it.
It certainly wasn’t the greatest of games but the goals, both scored by Tony Andreu in the 64th and 91st minutes, brought cheer to the United fans after a difficult few days.
Morton found the net in the dying seconds after home sub Sean Dillon deflected a Ross Forbes freekick into his own net.
Despite that late concession, United can now head into next weekend’s trip to Hibs with some confidence.
The Tangerines had made three changes to the side that started at Cappielow.
Andreu, Mark Durnan and Simon Murray came in, while Stewart Murdoch dropped out through injury, and Scott Fraser and Tope Obadeyi both dropped to the bench.
There were a few positional changes, too, with Frank van der Struijk moving to right-back and Lewis Toshney going forward into midfield in a 4-1-4-1 formation.
Cammy Smith dropped back into the middle after playing striker on Tuesday, with Murray taking on his usual role.
On 17 minutes, United had a great chance to take the lead after Smith played in Andreu. The Frenchman only had keeper Andrew McNeil to beat but he couldn’t do so and a fine save was made from point-blank range.
On 34 minutes, Murray went down in the box after a challenge by Mark Russell but referee Barry Cook waved play on.
Three minutes later, the visitors came closest to taking the lead when they hit the post. It was Aiden Nesbitt’s strike that struck United goalie Cammy Bell’s left-hand upright then Thomas O’Ware hit the rebound over the bar.
Much to the relief of most who were watching, a thoroughly dull first half finally came to an end and the players could think about doing better after the break.
Home boss Ray McKinnon altered things in attack at half-time, with Murray moving left and Nick van der Velden going through the middle.
On 51 minutes, United launched a decent attack which ended with Blair Spittal’s angled drive being well saved by McNeil.
The same player fired wide after a run from Durnan created an opportunity just two minutes later then Paul Dixon tries his luck from 30 yards only for his vicious shot to get blocked.
Durnan headed on to the roof of the Morton net from the back post after being found by a Spittal freekick before the former Queen’s Park player made way for Obadeyi on 62 minutes.
It had been a long time coming but United finally got the breakthrough on 64 minutes.
The ball came over from the left from Dixon and was then deflected across to Obadeyi on the right.
The former Kilmarnock man, who was unmarked, took a touch before sending a chipped cross to Andreu, whose shot from 15 yards was pushed back into the net by McNeil.
The Tangerines brought on Fraser for Smith on 76 minutes and Dillon for Van der Velden with five to go.
There were still some pretty nervy moments for United but all the worries and doubts disappeared one minute into stoppage time when Andreu latched on to a flick from Murray before running on and beating McNeil.
Morton grabbed a consolation goal four minutes into injury-time when a Forbes freekick made it into the net off United’s Dillon but the Tangerines held on.
Attendance: 5,829.
Dundee United: Bell, Dixon, Durnan, Toshney, Spittal (Obadeyi 62), Murray, Edjenguele, Smith (Fraser 76), Andreu, Van der Struijk, Van der Velden (Dillon 85). Subs not used: Zwick, Donaldson, Robson, B. Smith.
Greenock Morton: McNeil, O’Ware, Gunning, Doyle, Oliver, Forbes, Lindsay, Nesbitt (Murdoch 78), Russell (Tiffoney 76), McDonagh, Quitongo. Subs not used: Gaston, Scullion, Orr, Strapp.
Referee: Barry Cook.
