Impressive Motherwell cruise to comfortable victory over 10-man St Mirren

Motherwell treated the watching Sir Alex Ferguson to a football masterclass as Jens Berthel Askou’s side romped to a 5-0 win over St Mirren.

The former Manchester United manager was back in Paisley 48 years after being sacked by Saints.

It was Motherwell who put on a show for their hosts’ special guest as they bounced back from their Scottish Cup exit at Aberdeen with their biggest victory of a hugely impressive William Hill Premiership campaign.

Goals from Elijah Just, Tawanda Maswanhise and Ibrahim Said had them in command even before St Mirren defender Richard King was sent off for an off-the-ball incident in the 52nd minute.

Emmanuel Longelo added a fourth and Norwegian striker Eythor Bjorgolfsson fired a spectacular first goal for the club.

The visiting fans chanted “We’re gonna win the league” as their team delivered stats of 71 per cent possession and 92 per cent passing accuracy.

The result moved them 10 points off leaders Hearts with a game in hand while St Mirren are just two points above the danger zone.

There were big chances at either end inside three minutes. Jake Young got down the side of the visiting defence and forced a diving save from Callum Ward, before Maswanhise guided Longelo’s teasing cross just wide.

Motherwell quickly exerted their possession game and posed a constant threat from their overlapping full-backs.

There was a warning for Well on the break when Conor McMenamin made progress down the right and drew another save from Ward.

But the Steelmen took the lead in the 14th minute when Just fired into the bottom corner following a series of blocked shots.

The visitors doubled their lead with a 30th-minute penalty from Maswanhise after the Zimbabwe international was felled by a reckless challenge from Saints goalkeeper Shamal George.

Maswanhise fired into the side net after a blistering counter-attack and Alex Gogic soon showed his frustration by fouling Callum Slattery. Referee Calum Scott flashed the red card but downgraded it to a yellow after being called to the VAR monitor.

The visitors’ confidence in possession made it look like they had a man extra anyway and Maswanhise had another good chance  before the break, only to be denied by a last-ditch tackle.

St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson brought on the experience of Marcus Fraser and the fit-again Keanu Baccus at the break but his team were three down inside four minutes.

Motherwell were as impressive out of possession as they were on the ball. Just won the ball on the halfway line and sprinted forward with several team-mates. St Mirren were outnumbered and Said swept a deflected shot home.

St Mirren were further up against it when King was sent off after catching Slattery with a flailing arm as the pair tangled on the move.

The Steelmen were four up in the 58th minute when Slattery teed up Longelo to fire home at the end of a one-touch move.

Motherwell were determined to keep a clean sheet and Ward made an impressive stop from Mark O’Hara after some frantic closing-down from the visiting defenders.

The away side saved the best until last when Bjorgolfsson produced an acrobatic volley to net fellow sub Tom Sparrow’s cross from 12 yards in the 66th minute.

Slattery forced a good save as the visitors dominated until the end.