Ross Graham scores the winner for Dundee United against Ross CountyImage source, SNS
Image caption,

Ross Graham headed home Ryan Strain's corner for the game's only goal

Watch Ross County v Dundee United highlights on iPlayer

16/03/25

Dundee United all but secured a top-six Scottish Premiership finish after a scrappy 1-0 win at Ross County.

Defender Ross Graham headed in the winner from a second-half corner to earn Jim Goodwin's side their first league victory in eight matches.

Both sides traded chances in the first half with United's Luca Stephenson and County's Alex Samuel each passing up big opportunities to open the scoring.

After a tight opening 73 minutes, the visitors eventually took the lead.

Graham, who had just missed a near-identical opportunity five minutes prior, outmuscled County defender Jonathan Tomkinson to get his head on Strain's fine delivery and fire United in front.

The visitors then enjoyed a period of sustained pressure in which Louis Moult and Sam Dalby came close, but were denied a second by a combination of strong defending and goalkeeping.

Goodwin's side are now six points clear of St Mirren in seventh with two games until the league splits.

County's hopes of top-six extinguished

County really had to take something from this one if they wanted to keep their hopes of a top-six finish alive.

Don Cowie's side host Aberdeen and visit St Mirren before the split, and now need maximum points and a number of other results to go in their favour.

Their attention must turn to avoiding the drop, particularly that dreaded relegation play-off spot in which they've finished the past two seasons.

They are four points clear of Dundee in 11th and 11 clear of bottom spot.

Strap in County fans, it's that time of the season again.

Time for United to focus on Europe

Dundee United were winless in seven league matches heading into this one, desperate for a win to banish any worries of slipping outside the top six.

And they got what they needed.

Top six is now pretty much guaranteed and Goodwin's men can focus on aiming for a return to European football.

They occupy fifth spot in the Premiership table, two points off Aberdeen in fourth and three points behind Hibernian in third.

Don't get your passports out just yet but you better make sure they are in date!

What they said

Ross County manager Don Cowie: "Frustrated. Disappointed. We spoke before the game that this was an opportunity, at home, to get three points.

"We just didn't do enough within the game..We're at home and we want to play on the front foot and create chances. We had a couple in the first half but nowhere near enough.

"It was about doing the right things, making them defend, and we didn't do that. They did, that's why they're a top six team."

Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin: "We knew it was going to be a difficult one. It wasn't a classic by any stretch.

"We changed the shape after about an hour, got an extra striker on and finished the game really strongly. I felt going into the last half-hour that one goal would be enough and I'm delighted we were able to get it.

"We put a big emphasis on set-plays. We've got some really good delivery coming into the box and then it's about movement and being aggressive.

"We set a target for ourselves of 45 points at the start of the season - we believed that was what the magic number was going to be to get top six.

"Publicly we talked about staying in the league but inside we had our own ambitions.

"We're not quite there yet. We've given ourselves a great chance with this result and the expectations have changed as the season has gone on."