Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Dundee United 1-0 Motherwell: Dylan Levitt notches pivotal winner as on-loan Manchester United kid sends Tangerines a step closer to Europe

All smiles: Levit, right, following his goal
All smiles: Levit, right, following his goal

Dundee United are on the cusp of bringing European football back to Tannadice for the first time in a decade following a hard-fought victory over Motherwell.

Dylan Levitt notched his fifth goal of the campaign to settle a nerve-shredding contest, with the Steelmen striking the woodwork twice in the first half.

The triumph sees United open up a four-point gap over the ‘Well, with just three Premiership games left to play.

The Tangerines also enjoy a far superior goal difference, meaning it would take an almighty collapse for Tam Courts’ men to finish sixth; the only scenario in which they would fail to claim a berth in the Europa League Conference League qualifiers.

With Ross County drawing against Hearts, United also moved three points ahead of the Dingwall outfit.

Thanking the woodwork

Motherwell were a lick of paint away from claiming the lead after eight minutes.

Charlie Mulgrew was deployed in midfield

A fairly routine punt forward was misjudged by Liam Smith, allowing Ross Tierney to scamper towards goal. However, the young forward’s curling effort rattled the post.

Archie Meekison, 19, sparkled for the hosts in the opening stages, intelligently finding pockets of space, retaining possession and showing a willingness to burst forward. A real talent.

However, in a rare error, it was the teenager who lost possession in the engine room to allow Motherwell to produce a slick counter-attack and smack the cross-bar through Kaiyne Woolery.

Meekison, seemingly at the heart of everything, then shot wide from the edge of the box.

Tierney, a waspish, energetic presence in claret-and-amber, fizzed an effort narrowly off target form 25 yards.

Levitt is hailed after his opener

United made their first shot on target count.

A delightful passing move saw Meekison find Tony Watt with a sumptuous back-flick. The Scotland striker then fed Levitt, whose shot took a fortuitous deflection and looped beyond Liam Kelly.

Chasing a second

Given they had shipped 16 points from winning positions in their prior eight Premiership games, United should be credited for remaining on the ascendancy.

Such runs can become a self-fulfilling prophecy and, instead, the hosts were positive and professional.

Tony Watt was a persistent menace

A super sliding block by Juhani Ojala was required to thwart Watt from a tight angle as the second half commenced, while Meekison lashed a speculative shot over the bar.

The tireless Scott McMann robbed Mark O’Hara before stinging the palms of Kelly.

Joe Efford threatened from distance as Motherwell — with one win in 2022 to date — sought parity.

Ricki Lamie, due to join Dundee this summer, then rose highest to meet a Callum Slattery free-kick, only to flash his header inches wide.

And Benji Siegrist made a fine instinctive save to deny Tierney in the dying embers, securing a welcome clean sheet for the Swiss stopper and pivotal three points for the hosts.