Elijah Just provided a dramatic moment of inspiration as his injury-time winner earned Motherwell a thrilling last-gasp Scottish Premiership victory over Livingston.

Despite being denied by the video assistant referee (VAR) just moments earlier for a narrow offside call, New Zealand midfielder Just found the back of the net deep into stoppage time to give the visitors only their second league win of the season.

It was the hosts who struck first from the spot after Jeremy Bokila was caught by Liam Gordon inside the Motherwell box. Bokila stepped up to take and rifled the ball into the roof of the net.

David Martindale's side were probably unlucky not to be further ahead at the break with Robbie Muirhead and Mo Sylla both being denied in front of goal before Bokila's attempt deep into first-half stoppage time was blocked.

Despite trailing, Jens Berthel Askou made no changes at the break but his side were rewarded with a penalty less than 10 minutes into the second half.

After being instructed to go to the monitor by the VAR, referee Nick Walsh awarded the spot-kick for a handball by Macaulay Tait.

There was a further delay to proceedings while Robbie Muirhead received treatment before the spot kick could be taken, but it did not faze Apostolos Stamatelopoulos who slotted the ball beyond Jerome Prior and into the bottom left corner.

Stamatelopoulos did have the ball in the back of the net for what would have been the winner, but Just was adjudged to have been offside before he rolled the pass to the Australian striker.

Tete Yengi had a chance to snatch it for Livi at the other end but Calum Ward did well to keep the ball out of the Motherwell goal, paving the way for late drama at the other end.

Motherwell started the first half in Livingston in similar fashion to last week at home to Falkirk. They were enjoying the majority of possession, getting the ball up the pitch and peppering the goal with attempts but yet again they were found wanting in front of goal.

This week, however, they had to face the challenge of going in a goal down at the break.

David Martindale said pre-match that he felt like he was trying to fit square pegs in round holes when choosing his starting line-up, given the amount of injuries to his side and they spent the first 20 minutes being totally dominated by Motherwell.

But after their opening goal went in they looked like a different side. The hosts were enjoying a lot more of the ball and were carving out chances - Robbie Muirhead blazed over while Mo Sylla had one blocked from close range while Bokila could have had another deep into first half stoppage time.

Motherwell, on the other hand, looked a bit deflated and frustrated as the half wore on.

Despite enjoying 65% possession in the first 45 minutes, Motherwell failed to put a shot on target and only generated an xG (expected goals) of 0.27 compared to Livingston's 1.38.

Much like last week against Falkirk, the second half presented a different story but this time it was a happy ending for Motherwell.

Stamatelopoulos' spot-kick breathed new life into Motherwell who looked renewed in confidence in the second half and Askou was boosted by the return of Callum Slattery to the pitch.

They kept going and Elijah Just, after being denied by VAR just moments before, got the winning goal. Could this be the victory which changes Motherwell's fortunes?

Livingston manager David Martindale tells BBC Sportsound: "It's really raw. A late goal, dropped points. That's three times we've done that at home. I'm disappointed in the manner of the goals we've lost.

"The first is a poor individual decision. The second one is a ball we don't need to play, and we've just got lucky from the offside goal moments before. I don't understand it. There's a level of naivety, and it's up to me to try and address that.

"Players that have made mistakes and bad errors are having to learn on the job. There's a lot in the performance that I'm quite happy with. We got to grips with the game and we deserved the lead at half-time.

"Second half, we started okay. We have to look after the ball a bit better in the final third. The two goals we lose are really disappointing."

Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou tells BBC Sportsound: "A lot of emotions there. We went through a very difficult game. Big credit to Livingston for really making it hard for us.

"They were a threat all the way through and we had to provide two big moments to make sure we won. The first half lacked quality, but we stepped up second half.

"It wasn't perfect, but it became better, and we lifted out quality in the small moments, which led to two goals.

"Elijah [Just] is a very good player, who has started very well for us, and hopefully that continues. It was good to see [Callum Slattery] back, we've missed him. There was some moments of light for us today, and the win is massive."

Livingston welcome Hibernian to West Lothian next Saturday (15:00 GMT).

Motherwell are at home to Dundee United on Wednesday (19:45) before a massive League Cup semi-final at Hampden on 1 November (17:30).