Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell brushed off the significance of joining Celtic at the top of the cinch Premiership but hailed his players for “pushing the boundaries” with a 1-0 win at Tynecastle with 10 men.
Callum Slattery’s well-worked first-half goal and a resolute defensive display – especially after Paul McGinn’s 69th-minute red card – sealed victory against a Hearts side who only forced one save.
Motherwell are second on goal difference behind Celtic but Kettlewell is not getting carried away with the table after four matches.
“I don’t mean to be all doom and gloom but it means nothing at this point,” he said.
“I did speak to the players about pushing boundaries as much as we can and I think, as a short-term goal, coming to Tynecastle and getting a clean sheet and winning is pushing the boundaries for a club like Motherwell.
“Their resources and everything that they have is astronomical compared to ourselves but that doesn’t mean that we can’t come here, push boundaries and win games of football – and acquit ourselves in the way that we did.
“We’re not going to look at the league table or speak about it as a group.
“For supporters and people outside our club it’s a big story and it’s something to talk about. But for us, very simply we feel as if we have hit an unbelievable stretch of form.
“That’s now 10 Premiership games without defeat and we have not lost an away game since I took charge.”
Kettlewell added: “It was a brilliant performance. In the first half we were very good. We did a lot of things well in possession and out of possession.
“Fundamentally when you come here you want to turn the crowd, you want to try and ensure the opposition have to change their shape and their personnel. They did all of those things so we felt that first marker was there for us.
“In the second half you know you are going to have to suffer at times. At times you won’t have the ball but when we were reduced to 10 men that had to bring out a different side in us.
“We were laughing with the players because we work on attack versus defence and you saw how comfortable they were with it.
“It looked like they enjoyed it and there was a unity in everything they did. I think for Liam Kelly to face only one shot on target all game, that’s pretty incredible. But it also shows the work done in front of him.”
Hearts technical director Steven Naismith admitted his team’s performance was “poor” as they suffered a fourth consecutive defeat.
Naismith added: “It’s been very similar to every game we have played after a European tie. A very slow start, lethargic, safe, which then turns into nerves, turns into giving away cheap chances.
“I don’t think we deserved to win the game, we didn’t create enough, especially when they went down to 10 men.
“It was more of hope than real desire to get the goal to get back in the game that would put them under real pressure, which we failed to do.”
Naismith refused to use the exertions of Thursday’s European tie against PAOK as an excuse.
“If you’re at a club where the demand is you play in Europe season in, season out, then you need to understand you need to dig deep when you’re not feeling at your best,” he said.
“You need to have that mentality that says ‘no matter what, we’re going to win this game if it might not go straight to plan’.
“We need to have enough to cause other teams problems and I don’t think we have done that in these games after the European games.”
St Kitts and Nevis, Belize secure first leg advantage in Nations League Play-In
Saint Kitts and Nevis and Belize place one foot in the Concacaf Gold Cup Prelims as both secured 2-1 wins over Cuba and French Guiana, respectively, in the opening leg of their Concacaf Nations League Play-In on Thursday.
Romaine Sawyers (8th) and Andre Burley (48th) were the scorers for Saint Kitts and Nevis, while Luis Paradela (40th) pulled one back for Cuba at the SKNFA Technical Center in Basseterre.
Meanwhile, at the FFB Stadium in Belmopan, Belize through goals from Carlos Bernardez (67th) and Eugene Martinez (75th) also secured an advantage heading into return leg action on Tuesday. Thomas Torvic (90+3) got French Guiana’s goal.
The winning teams on aggregate will advance to the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup Prelims.
Saint Kitts and Nevis vs. Cuba
Sawyers opened the scoring for Saint Kitts and Nevis with a right-footed strike inside the penalty area after latching on to a final pass from Omari Sterling-James.
However, Paradela pulled Cuba level with a tidy finish from Orlando Calvo’s perfectly weighted ball into the area.
Cuba’s celebrations were short-lived as Burley restored the “Sugar Boyz” lead when he expertly headed home from Sterling-James’ weighted freekick.
Cuba will host Saint Kitts and Nevis in the second leg on Monday at Estadio Antonio Maceo in Santiago de Cuba.
Belize vs. French Guiana
After playing out a goalless first half, Bernardez broke the deadlock for Belize from a penalty spot much to the delight of home crowd.
Martinez extended the lead when he applied the finishing touch to Jordy Polanco’s decent corner kick.
Down but not out, Torvic ensured French Guiana remained in striking distance as he headed home from Thomas Vancaeyezeele’s assist.
French Guiana and Belize will meet for the second leg on Tuesday at Dr. Ir. Franklin Essed Stadion in Paramaribo, Suriname.
St Vincent and the Grenadines, El Salvador register wins in League B battle for promotion
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines kept hopes of a promotion in the Concacaf Nations League alive as they beat Monserrat 2-1, while El Salvador clipped Bonaire 1-0 in Group A of League B on Thursday.
Steven Pierre (42nd) fired home from a delightful Shakeem Adams pass before Cornelius Stewart (86th) converted from the penalty spot to seal a crucial win for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Meanwhile, Donervorn Daniels (88th) scored Montserrat’s consolation in the curtain-raiser of the double-header at Estadio Cuscatlán in San Salvador.
In the feature contest, host and group leaders El Salvador also secured a crucial win courtesy of Styven Vasquez’s 83rd-minute strike, which came from a Santos Ortiz assist.
By virtue of the results, El Salvador remain atop the standings on 12 points, two points ahead of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (10 points), while Bonaire (four points) and Montserrat (three points) are battling to avoid relegation.
As such, things will be interesting on Sunday’s final matchday as Saint Vincent and the Grenadines will face Bonaire in the first encounter before El Salvador cross swords with Montserrat in the feature at the same venue.
Reggae Boyz edged 1-0 by US in Nations League quarter-final first leg
Jamaica's Reggae Boyz were left with a bittersweet taste in their mouths as they suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to the United States in the first leg of the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal clash at the National Stadium on Thursday.
It was a match defined by tension and missed chances, particularly for the Reggae Boyz, as Ricardo Pepi’s early fifth-minute strike proved decisive for the visitors, who left a packed crowd of 20,514 fans disappointed at the outcome.
With the win, United States, the reigning Concacaf Nations League champions will be even more confident heading into Monday's return leg in Missouri. Jamaica will be without England-born central defender Mason Holgate for that contest after he was shown a second yellow and then red in the 86th. His first caution was in the 76th.
The Boyz would have been hyped heading into Thursday's encounter on home soil, but quickly had the wind knocked out of their sails when Pepi found the net from a Christian Pulisic through ball to seize an early lead for the United States.
However, the Boyz refused to be cowed and pressed the Americans for an equalizer in what became a fiercely contested match. They had their first real chance to level things in the 12th minute, when Shamar Nicholson powered his way into the box, only to be fouled by United States' goalkeeper Matt Turner.
Demarai Gray stepped up to take the resulting penalty, but Turner rose to the occasion, diving to his right to block Gray’s low shot and keep the United States advantage intact.
Still, the Boyz continued to push forward. In the 36th minute, Kasey Palmer tried his luck from the top of the box, but his shot was comfortably collected by Turner.
Just a minute later, Dexter Lembikisa whipped in a well-placed cross for Nicholson, but his header went well wide of the mark as they continued their search for a breakthrough.
After a slow start to the second half, the Boyz upped the tempo and created multiple close chances in what was their best passage of play. Nicholson had another opportunity in the 63rd minute, but his shot was expertly charged down by Mark McKenzie, who frustrated the Jamaican faithful.
Perhaps Jamaica's best chance came shortly after, in the 65th minute, as Renaldo Cephas sent a teasing cross across the face of the United States goal. Holgate connected but had his shot cleared off the line by Tim Ream.
The resulting corner saw Leon Bailey's curling effort rattle the crossbar, and Damion Lowe’s follow-up was also blocked, drawing loud cheers from the crowd, who wanted a VAR check for a possible penalty.
However, the appeal by both the players on the pitch and their supporters was ignored by Costa Rican referee Juan Gabriel Calderon, resulting in murmurs of frustration through the crowd.
The game briefly paused when tensions flared between Bailey and United States defender Antonee Robinson, an incident symbolic of the competitive spirit both sides displayed throughout.
As the minutes ticked away, Jamaica kept pushing, but the United States defence stood firm. Bailey tried once more in the 73rd minute with a shot from inside the box, only to see it blocked by Ream.
A defensive error by Lowe opened the door for the Americans to threaten late on, with Brandon Vazquez finding himself with space and time in the 84th minute, but his attempt went straight to Jamaica’s custodian Andre Blake.
The final blow for the Boyz came in the 86th minute when Holgate received his second yellow card after a foul on Vazquez, reducing Steve McClaren's side to 10 men and dimming their chances for a late comeback.
Despite the narrow defeat, Jamaica will head into the second leg with hopes of overturning the deficit but will need to be much sharper and more clinical if they hope to progress to the semifinals, as getting by the United States in their backyard will by no means be easy.
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