Motherwell bounced back from cup elimination to beat St Mirren 5-0, with goals from Elijah Just, Tawanda Maswanhise, Ibrahim Said, Emmanuel Longelo and Eythor Bjorgolfsson
Motherwell delivered a statement on Sunday, carving St Mirren apart in a 5-0 win that never really felt like a contest. Sir Alex Ferguson was among the spectators as Jens Berthel Askou’s side turned long spells of possession into a ruthless attacking display — the visitors’ biggest margin of victory this season.
The statistics told the story: roughly 71% possession and around 92% passing accuracy, but those numbers mattered because they produced chances and smart finishing, not empty dominance. Motherwell moved the ball patiently, then attacked with purpose; St Mirren couldn’t sustain pressure or fashion a clear way back into the game.
How the game opened up
The tie truly broke after the interval when Richard King was sent off for an off-the-ball incident. Down to ten men, the hosts were forced into a defensive reshuffle and Motherwell immediately widened the pitch, pushed full-backs higher and sped up the midfield exchanges.
The extra man let them probe the gaps between the lines and create overloads on the flanks.
Chances followed quickly. Set-piece work and late runs from deep punished St Mirren’s compact shape, and the visitors’ substitutions never quite stitched the team back together. By the final quarter the scoreline reflected more than finishing: it showed superior structure, aggressive pressing after losing the ball and sharp choices in the final third. Ibrahim Said’s deflected strike made it 3-1 before Emmanuel Longelo finished a one-touch sequence to push the margin further.
A composed finish and a late flourish
The fifth came from substitute Eythor Bjorgolfsson, who capped the rout with an acrobatic close-range volley that drew cheers from the travelling support. Across the 90 minutes Motherwell combined organised defending with rapid transitions — creating clear openings while protecting a clean sheet. Even after the contest was effectively decided the team kept pressing, forcing a string of late saves and near-misses that reinforced the professionalism on display.
Bounce-back after cup pain
This performance felt like a deliberate reaction to the sour taste left by their Scottish Cup exit at Hampden, a defeat to Aberdeen that featured multiple late dismissals and left the squad frustrated. Elijah Just admitted the cup exit stung, but he also pointed to signs of improvement: the return of key players from injury and a renewed focus as the squad tries to rebuild momentum across the league and cup fronts.
League picture and what comes next
The win keeps Motherwell within reach in the table: they sit ten points off the leaders but still hold a game in hand, so a strong run could quickly change their standing. St Mirren, by contrast, remain only marginally clear of the relegation zone, a reminder of how quickly fortunes can swing in a tight Premiership.
For both clubs momentum matters. Motherwell must now turn impressive attacking displays into consistent league returns; St Mirren need to shore up defensively to stop sliding. The upcoming fixtures will be a prompt test for each side to prove this result was a springboard, not an outlier.
Tactical takeaways
This match crystallised Motherwell’s preferred template: controlled possession, high passing accuracy, full-back width and coordinated forward movement. Multiple players contributed goals — Just, Maswanhise, Said, Longelo and Bjorgolfsson all played their part — and the passing patterns showed discipline and tempo control. St Mirren’s red card certainly shifted the balance, but the performance also underlined a cohesive team shape and clear gameplan.
If Motherwell can reproduce this disciplined execution under pressure, they’ll give themselves a realistic chance of sustaining a push up the table. Short-term flashes won’t be enough, though. Consistency across defence, transition and set pieces will decide whether this was a one-off statement or the start of a sustained run. Selection headaches, tactical tweaks and tests of squad depth lie ahead — and the coming weeks should tell us how far this team can go.
